Happy Birthday Dr. Seuss
Who Is Dr. Seuss?
Vocabulary and References
Great Web Sites on Dr. Seuss
Rhyming Scavenger Hunt
Dr. Seuss and Political Cartoons Activity
Yertle the Turtle and Leaders Activity
Who is Dr. Seuss?
Dr. Seuss is the pen name of Theodor Seuss Geisel. Geisel was born in Springfield,
Massachusetts on March 2, 1904. His grandparents were German immigrants and his
family still spoke German in the home. His father ran the family brewery in Springfield
until Prohibition, when he became a park ranger.
Geisel and his father spent a lot of time at the Forest Park near Geisel’s house where
there was a zoo. As a result, his first art subjects were animals – they remained his
favorite items to draw throughout his life.
At the age of 12, Geisel entered a drawing contest. He won first place for a drawing of a
big fish. Later, as a teenager, he tried art classes, but had trouble following the teacher’s
rules; he preferred to follow his own style. He always enjoyed writing as much as
drawing. Geisel worked on the school newspaper, where he often wrote as T.S. LeSieg,
which is Geisel spelled backwards. Later as an accomplished author, he sometimes used
this pen name.
With plans to become an English teacher, Geisel went on to college at Dartmouth
College. There, he began drawing cartoons and editing the school humor magazine, the
Jack-O-Lantern. After being banned from the newspaper for violating school rules,
Geisel took on a pseudonym, Seuss, to disguise himself. Later, he added the “Dr.” and
the first name “Theophrastus.”
After college, he went on to Oxford University to pursue a Ph.D. in Literature. While at
Oxford, he realized his true calling was art and decided not to pursue teaching. He was
encouraged by his future wife, Helen, whom he met there in England. After leaving
graduate school, Geisel spent valuable time traveling. He also spent several months
writing in Paris, around other famous writers like Theodore Dreiser and Ernest
Hemingway.
Geisel sold his first illustration to the Saturday Evening Post in 1927. Soon after, he
moved to New York City, where he joined the staff of Judge magazine and married
Helen. He was paid $75 a week as an artist. Many of his future creatures appeared in
Judge, such as Horton from Horton Hears a Who.
In one Judge cartoon, Geisel used the insect spray “Flint” as the butt of a joke; in
response, the company offered him a job. His salary tripled. He ended up writing and
illustrating advertisements for nearly 20 years for a range of companies such as Ford and
NBC.
The ads show glimpses of his future books, both in the characters and the rhymes. Here
is a sample rhyme: “When beasts like this won’t leave their lairs; mere insects better say
their prayers.” His ads appeared in newspapers, magazines, and on billboards. He also
continued to sell illustrations and articles to magazines like Life and Vanity Fair.
In 1936, Geisel completed his first book, A Story That No One Can Beat. Years later,
Geisel explained that he wrote the first lines of this book while on a boat in the Atlantic
Ocean; he created the rhythms and rhymes against that of the ship’s during bad weather;
it was a way of calming himself. But, altogether, the book took him six months to
complete.
After sending it to 29 publishers, Vanguard Press, where Geisel had a friend as an editor,
finally agreed to publish the book. But Geisel changed to change the name. It became:
And to Think That I Saw It On Mulberry Street.
The rhythm of the ship that Geisel recreated and used many times in his books is called
anapestic tetrameter. It is two unstressed syllables followed by one stressed syllable. It
can be found in Clement Moore’s poem “Twas the Night Before Christmas” or Lewis
Carroll’s Hunting of the Snark.
His second story, The 500 Hats of Bartholomew Cubbins soon followed, along with The
King’s Stilts and Horton Hatches the Egg. Horton became a popular character and Geisel
brought him back for more adventures with Horton Hears a Who and Horton Hatches the
Egg. In 1967, Horton Hears a Who was made into a TV Special, which won a Peabody
Award.
As Geisel developed Horton, the United States entered the war. Geisel worked for PM
magazine. He drew nearly 400 editorial cartoons for the magazine.
In 1942, he joined the U.S. Army. He was assigned to the Information and Education
Division at Fox Studio in Hollywood, California. He worked with Academy Award
winning director Frank Capra. They made animated films to train military men. The
experience helped hone Geisel’s writing and editing skills. In 1946 and 1948, he won
Academy Awards for documentary films.
In 1946, a year after the war had ended, Geisel was discharged from the army, but the
Geisels stayed in California and made their home there. Helen Geisel also began writing
children’s literature, working for Disney and Golden Books.
In 1948, McElligott’s Pool was a Caldecott Honor book. And just a few years later, both
Bartholomew and the Oobleck and If I Ran the Zoo were also named Caldecott Honor
books.
In 1957, he wrote The Cat in the Hat as a challenge to himself; he wanted to write a book
using around 220 easy-to-read words. It took him more than a year to meet this
challenge. This book inspired him and his editor to create Beginner Books, specifically
for young readers.
How the Grinch Stole Christmas! was also written in 1957. The message and symbols of
the book have become legendary. Geisel wrote the television version of the book and it
won a Peabody Award.
Geisel loved a challenge. In 1960, his publisher bet him $50 that he couldn’t write a book
using only the same 50 words. Luckily, Geisel won that bet and readers got Green Eggs
and Ham.
In 1967, Helen Geisel died. Geisel remarried Audrey Stone in 1968.
Through many of his books, Geisel tried to share a message with his readers, as with the
1971 The Lorax about the need to protect the environment or the 1984 The Butter Battle
Book about the dangers of nuclear war.
In 1984, Geisel won the Pulitzer Prize for Literature. His last book was published in
1990 – Oh, the Places You’ll Go! He died in 1991 at the age of 87, with over 50
children’s books in his name.
Geisel has inspired people around the world. The people of Springfield, Massachussetts
have built a memorial to him in their city park. In 2008, Geisel was inducted into the
California Hall of Fame.
|
