Excerpt from http://www.seuss.org/seuss/seuss.bio.htmlTheodor Seuss Geisel was born 2 March 1904 in Springfield, MA. He graduated Dartmouth College in 1925, and proceeded on to Oxford University with the intent of acquiring a doctorate in literature. At Oxford he met Helen Palmer, who he wed in 1927. He returned from Europe in 1927, and began working for a magazine called Judge, the leading humor magazine in America at the time, submitting both cartoons and humorous articles for them. Additionally, he was submitting cartoons to Life, Vanity Fair and Liberty. In some of his works, he'd made reference to an insecticide called Flit. These references gained notice, and led to a contract to draw comic ads for Flit. This association lasted 17 years, gained him national exposure, and coined the catchphrase "Quick, Henry, the Flit!"
In 1936 on the way to a vaction in Europe, listening to the rhythm of the ship's engines, he came up with And to Think That I Saw It on Mulberry Street, which was then promptly rejected by the first 43 publishers he showed it to. Eventually in 1937 a friend published the book for him, and it went on to at least moderate success.
During WW II, Geisel joined the army and was sent to Hollywood. Captain Geisel would write for Frank Capra's Signal Corps Unit (for which he won the Legion of Merit) and do documentaries (he won Oscar's for Hitler Lives and Design for Death). He also created a cartoon called Gerald McBoing-Boing which also won him an Oscar.
In May of 1954, Life published a report concerning illiteracy among school children. The report said, among other things, that children were having trouble to read because their books were boring. This inspired Geisel's publisher, and prompted him to send Geisel a list of 400 words he felt were important, asked him to cut the list to 250 words (the publishers idea of how many words at one time a first grader could absorb), and write a book. Nine months later, Geisel, using 220 of the words given to him published The Cat in the Hat, which went on to instant success.
In 1960 Bennett Cerf bet Geisel $50 that he couldn't write an entire book using only fifty words. The result was Green Eggs and Ham. Cerf never paid the $50, btw...
In 1960 Bennett Cerf bet Geisel $50 that he couldn't write an entire book using only fifty words. The result was Green Eggs and Ham. Cerf never paid the $50, btw...
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(In honor of National Poetry Month)
What is your favorite Dr. Seuss book? Let's discuss.....
30 comments:
You might (not) be surprised, but this is about the fourth time I hear Dr Seuss's name at all.
He is not well-known here at all, at least he was not well known when I was a kid and when my kids were at the age of learning new words.
We have great writers and poets, who, I assume did similar jobs that Dr. Seuss has done.
These works are very important for upbringing a new generation for a love of their native language.
Since I have an almost 2 year old, I read a lot of Dr. Seuss books. Her favorite is Are You My Mother, in which a baby bird tries to find his mother (now that I think about it, that one is written by his apprentice P.D. Eastman).
I think my favorite Seuss book is Mr. Brown Can Moo, Can You?. That one is a lot of fun to read aloud.
Paul
I adore his books, although not so much the most popular ones (like Cat in The Hat, Green Eggs and Ham).
I think Horton Hatches An Egg might be my favorite. Horton's such a sweet character, and so persistent and loyal. When that little bird hatches at the end, and has a trunk and elephant ears, it always brings a lump to my throat to see his joy. Horton shows what real family is all about.
I'm off to force my kids into hearing it...again. ;)
Without a doubt, my favorite is The Lorax. Of course you know by now that I enjoy many of them, but I've always found The Lorax to be fascinating, even when I was very little. It was always my favorite Seuss TV special.
Oh, The Places You'll Go
I Can Read with My Eyes Shut
Horton Hears a Who
Fortunately, those are big in the current nightly rotation. So I get my Seuss fix daily. :)
I'm a "Green Eggs and Ham" lover & I still have the book. I've always wanted to see it done by a Shakespearian company--all the pomp & drama--it'd be hysterical!
Of course, the "Star-bellied Sneeches" also hold a special place in my heart.
Sorry for my recent absence, again--mundania intruded!
I didn't know about his early history and this was very intersting. Your posts are always so informative. Thanks.
In this order:
The Sleep Book
Are You My Mother?
The Lorax
One Fish Two Fish
I'm a Seuss nut. But I never saw Seussical the Musical, unfortunately. :(
I don't have a favourite but I do believe I have read every one to my children over the years. For some reason, these books tend to stick in all of our heads... I wonder why! :-)
The Grinch Who Stole Christmas
Fox In Socks
The Sneeches And Other Stories
Szelsofa, you should pick up The Lorax. He speaks for the trees.
Ah, Dr. Seuss...my favorite.
And my favorite line: And what would you do if you met a Jaboo?
Also, we routinely pass the Rink-Rinker-Fink on the turnpike in Pennsylvania.
I'd have to go with Green Eggs, Sneeches is a great one too. I'm not the biggest fan of Seuss, although what an amazing talent. I'll agree with strugglingwriter - PD Eastman is amazing - his still are some of my favorite children's books.
On my recent journey to Boston, I found out that
"Make Way for Ducklings" is the official State Picture Book" however, this annoyed Seuss fans, so the official State Children's Books Author is Theodor Geisel. A note of trivia.
I'm a Suess fanatic. He was very creative. I love writing like him. I did a post last fall called Cat in the Hat in Modern Times.
I loved that story about the $50 bet. I hadn't heard that one. I wouldn't have bet against him; he was far too creative NOT to accomplish that.
I have a soft spot for One Fish Two Fish because it's the first book my son read aloud to me without memorizing it first.
Oh, I love love love Dr. Seuss. I read his books to my kids when they were very small. The rhythm and cadence are spectacular for reading aloud.
Both of my girls, one now twenty and the other an inch away form sixteen, are avid readers, unlike many of their friends, and I swear I think reading Seuss to them nightly when they were very young has a lot to do with that.
Loved reading them:
One Fish Two Fish
Green Eggs and Ham
The Cat in the Hat
in that order, for their reactions more than anything else. They'd catch the rhyme and the feel, remember the words, and finish the 'sentences' when we were reading.
Cool stuff, Chris! Glad you posted this.
I read Dr Seuss books with my mother too, but the awful truth is that I always hated them. The illustrations really bothered me as a kid, even while I could see how cleverly done they were, and how talented Dr Seuss truly was. Does that make sense? It is absolutely true.
It's embarrassing to admit this, but there it is. I think what bothered me about The Cat in the Hat was that the cat did not look like a cat. I'm weird: I need cats to look just like cats. For what it is worth, I believe he deserved his fame, and that he was an American icon; I just didn't like his art. Now I'll go cower some place while people shake their heads in disgust.
Forgot to answer the question! I think I'd have to pick Green Eggs and Ham. My mother used this in a vain attempt to make me a less finicky eater.
Thanks everybody for sharing! And thanks for your kind words, Charles.
I've never read the Lorax, but now it's in my head and I have to get it. My favorite is the Cat in the Hat because it's the one my kids wanted me to read over and over. Plus it helped teach both of them to read, so I have lots of positive memories associated with it. Also love the Grinch!
:-)
It's gotta be "Die 500 Hoede van Sebastiaan Klippers. Buy the Afrikaans version here. We've also got Herrie Broei die Eier Uit and Willie die Skillie. Can you guess what their original titles are?
I'm familiar with the 500 Hats of Bartholomew Cubbins, but the other ones are, um, well, foreign to me.
Good on ya' PJD for guessing! Never heard of that one, but, EOH, that site is a scream!!
I had a S. African friend a long time ago. Only word I remember sounded like "Hoo Ha." Means darling---for children?
:-)
Mary, I just put up a blog about books you don't like -you should go add Dr. Seuss! (I hate the Giving Tree.)
I love the Lorax. ABsolutely. But honestly, after seeing Jesse Jackson read Green Eggs and Ham on Saturday night live, that is my absolute favorite.
i got to loving these books after i learned to read, in australia in the 1960's and have treasured them ever since... i don't have any particular favourites since most of them are excellent and introduced me at an early age to the wonders of words and the ways of playing around with sounds, rhymes and meanings all at the same time :-))
i've tried to introduce them to my daughters but they couldn't really relate tot the dutch translations although my eldest daughter loved "the cat in the hat" and "the grinch who stole christmas" when read in english
thanks for this post, it brought back a lot of memories of my primary school days :-))
Favorite? I don't know for about six months Mr Brown Can Moo was the only book my son would sit still and listen to.
I'm not a big fan of Dr Seuss and, luckily for me, neither are my kids.
Does that make us weird?
No, McKoala, but that does make me feel pretty relieved. I've read all of these comments and sort of hated myself. Now I think I'm going to have to go find Aerin's post...
Chris! Thought I left my comment earler. My favorite book was Put Me In the Zoo, credited to Robert Lopshire. I LOVED IT.
I love all of his works, but The Cat in the Hat was the first book I read by Dr. Seuss, and it's stuck with me for years... :*)
Aerin, I hate the Giving Tree also.
I thought I posted something, but looks like Blogger ate it.
Thanks everybody for sharing your favorite books.
Mckoala, :-) There's a joke on the tip of my tongue. But too tired to be creative.
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