A children's memory

There's a book I read as a child. I thought it was a Dr. Seuss book but I looked online and can't figure out which it would be.

The book opens with an Edenic planet filled with grass and grazing animals. Suddenly, from the sky come these massive football-shaped space ships. The ships land and lower their hulls and out come these colonists and crazy machines. They swarm across the hills and begin building cities in every direction.

The cities are erected with ruthless efficiency and, soon, the entire planet is covered in asphalt and buildings. The sky becomes toxic from pollution and all the animals hide in sewers. Finally the people pack up in their metal ships and zip away into space, looking for a new planet.

In the final pages, the animals re-emerge from beneath the streets and stare in astonishment at their ruined world. On the last page, an animal discovers a small plant that has managed to poke its way through the asphalt to reach the air.

The End.


(I liked the book for obvious reasons, and I would like to buy it before it goes out of print. If anyone knows what book I'm talking about, please let me know!)