By Jaymi Firestone

The Cat in the Hat. Hop on Pop. Fox in Socks. They are all stories we’ve heard and love, written by the King of Rhyme: the Famous Dr. Seuss. We know the silly sayings and iconic cartoony illustrations, but how many of us actually know about the man behind those famed children books?

I embarked on a journey today, March 2nd, Dr. Seuss’ birthday, to determine who the mysterious children’s author was. I found myself in a rabbit hole of green eggs and ham, where the Grickle-grass grows underneath the Truffula trees, searching for a man that forever changed the world of fiction.

Dr. Seuss is famed for his silly stories that created a category all their own. His own story though started back in 1904. So, let’s take a step back in time to March 2, 1904 when he was born in Springfield, Massachusetts to Theodor and Henrietta Geisel. They gave him the name Theodor “Ted” Seuss Geisel, and he had a normal childhood as a child of German descent growing up in Springfield.

(Photo by: Universal History Archive/UIG via Getty Images)

Ted attended Dartmouth College until 1925 when he graduated with a Bachelor of Arts degree. He then pursued post-graduate degrees at Lincoln College, Oxford, and at the Sorbonne. “He subsequently began working for Life, Vanity Fair, and other publications as an illustrator and humorist, (Britannica.com).” He also found work doing advertising campaigns with his talented artwork. “Geisel was especially noted for his work on ads for Flit insect repellent. Some of his characters later appeared in his children’s works, (Britannica.com).”

It wasn’t until 1937, at the age of 33, when under the pseudonym, Dr. Seuss, he wrote and published his first children’s book, “And to Think That I Saw It on Mulberry Street.” Its reported that 30 publishers rejected the story before a friend, who happened to be an editor at Vanguard Plus, offered to publish Geisel’s first book.

Where did the “Doctor” come from at the beginning of his name? I’ve always wondered that myself. What I found in my search today is that Geisel used Dr. as a tongue-in-cheek reference to his incompleted doctorate degree. Why not poke fun at his incomplete college endeavors right?

He planned to publish novels under the pen name, but after his first novel for adults, “The Seven Lady Godivas,” published in 1939 didn’t fair well, he decided to stick with children’s books. “According to Geisel, ‘Adults are obsolete children, and the hell with them,’ ” (Britannica.com).

After publishing several more children’s works, Geisel released “Horton Hatches the Egg” in 1940. With it, he introduced the features that would come to define his books: a unique brand of humour, playful use of words, and outlandish characters,” (Britannica.com).

As we all know, the choice to stick with children’s books proved to be the right one for the creative, who published 60 children’s books ranging from the more popular “The Cat in the Hat,” to “Sneetches” and “Hooray for Diffendoofer Day.”

During World War II, Geisel did take a slight sabbatical from writing for children, and focused on political cartoons. He spent 1942-1946 serving in the U.S. Army, “where he was assigned to the documentary division. In 1945, while in the Army, he wrote the movie “Your Job in Germany,” which was directed by Frank Capra. It was later remade as the Academy Award-winning “Hitler Lives” (1945), though Geisel was not credited,” (Britannica.com).

Then in 1947, after he left the Army, he returned to authoring children’s books with “McElligot’s Pool.” In 1954, Dr. Seuss published the famous, “Horton Hears a Who!” And by the end of 1957, he had published his 2 most popular works, “The Cat in the Hat,” and “How the Grinch Stole Christmas,” which was adapted for television in 1966 and became a holiday staple.

Ted Geisel, or Dr. Seuss as we know him, continued publishing children’s books, political cartoons, animated cartoons for television and more over the next several decades. Then, sadly the world lost this iconic talent after a battle with cancer on September 24, 1991. He was 87 years old.

He has left his stamp on society though with children’s books that are still in circulation. We grew up reading his famous storybooks, and now read them to our kids, who will read them to their kids. His legacy has and will continue to far outlive him. Dr. Seuss taught us life lessons that even as adults can impact the choices we make and the lives we live.

But if the famous author has taught us anything, its this: “Today you are you! That is truer than true! There is no one alive who is You-er than You!”

 

Resources:

https://www.britannica.com/biography/Dr-Seuss/The-Cat-in-the-Hat-How-the-Grinch-Stole-Christmas-and-other-classics