This is Dr. Seuss at his most profound. While The Cat in the Hat is pure chaos and Green Eggs and Ham is persistence propaganda, Oh, the Places You'll Go! is the one that actually makes parents tear up at bedtime.

The genius is how it works at every age. Babies bounce to the rhythm. Preschoolers giggle at the wacky illustrations. Elementary kids start grasping the metaphor. And teens—even the ones who'd rather die than admit they like a picture book—actually absorb the message about navigating life's inevitable 'Slumps' and 'Waiting Places.'

Yes, it's been so thoroughly adopted by the graduation-gift-industrial-complex that it borders on cliché. But there's a reason it's sold millions of copies since 1990: it's legitimately wise. The 4.9 Amazon rating isn't helicopter parents being generous—it's everyone from sleep-deprived new parents to grandparents recognizing something genuinely special.

If you only own five Dr. Seuss books, this should be one of them.