Dr. Seuss

Dr. Seuss
Dr. Seuss in 1957, with some of his books.
Born
March 2, 1904 Springfield, Massachusetts, USA
Died
September 24, 1991 La Jolla, California

Theodor Seuss Geisel (March 2, 1904 – September 24, 1991) stands out in American history as the author of several classic children's books, which he wrote under the pen name of Dr. Seuss. Among his most famous books are The Cat in the Hat, How the Grinch Stole Chrismas, and Green Eggs and Ham. Along with his popular children's stories, Geisel was writer and cartoonist (he illustrated all of his books) He also wrote a few books under the name of Theo. LeSieg, which is Geisel spelled backwards. He used "LeSieg" only for the books that he wrote, but didn't illustrate. In all, Geisel wrote and illustrated 44 children's books.

Life and Work

Theodor Seuss Geisel was blessed with an ideal and happy childhood. He was born on March 2, 1904 and grew up in Springfield, Massachusetts. His house was located on 74 Fairfield Street, and it was exactly six blocks to the zoo (where his father worked) and three blocks to the local library. He was a creative and energetic child who excelled academically. His father had great hopes for Geisel becoming a doctor. Seuss attended and graduated from Dartmouth College in 1925. While at Dartmouth he was an active member of both Sigma Phi Epsilon and Casque and Gauntlet. Some of his first articles were published in the humor magazine, Dartmouth Jack-O-Lantern.

Seuss was encouraged at home to continue his education, and so he attended Lincoln College, Oxford, with the intent of earning a doctorate in literature, and fulfilling his father's dream. However, Seuss did not count on meeting a major distraction, that of Helen Palmer, and the couple married in 1927. The two returned to the United States and Seuss never finished Oxford. But, he decided to put "Dr." at the front of his chosen pen name "Seuss" so his father could say his son was a doctor. The name Seuss was Geisel's mother's maiden name, and it is pronounced like "voice", though most American's pronounce it like "juice".

Seuss began writing intently after his marriage, submitting humorous articles (along with original illustrations) to several magazines. Among these were Judge, The Saturday Evening Post, Life, Vanity Fair, and Liberty. During the Great Depression, Seuss found work by drawing advertisments for General Electric, NBC, Standard Oil, and many others, even though he was not writing children's stories, he had already begun using his pen name, Dr. Seuss. He also wrote and drew a short-lived comic strip called Hejji in 1935, this was his first introduction to cartoons.

Dr. Seuss wrote three children's books in prose, including And to Think That I Saw It on Mulberry Street, before he found his unique rhyme and rhythm. He took a break in his fictional writing and began making strong political statements in the form of cartoons, articles, documentaries, and eventually service in World War II.

He drew over 400 cartoons for the New York City daily newspaper PM. His cartoons expressed left-wong sentiments on the vileness of Hitler, Mussolini and even Charles Lindbergh (who voiced his discontent over America joining the war effort). [1]

As much as his cartoons made statments against racism and isolationist leaders, they praised ever decision by President Roosevelt during the war. Seuss admired the President and was highly patriotic about his country, that he decided to do more than the cartoons. In 1942, he began drawing posters for the Treasury Department and the War Production Board. In 1943, he became a commander of the Animation Department of the First Motion Picture Unit of the United States Army Air Forces. He made several propaganda films about peace, as well as earning an Academy Award for Best Documentary in 1947 for Design for Death. He ended his service and was awarded the Legion of Merit.

At the war's end, Seuss and Helen settled permanently in La Jolla, California, where his writing continued in ernest. He wrote If I Ran the Zoo, (1950), Scrambled Eggs Super! (1953), On Beyond Zebra! (1955), If I Ran the Circus (1956), and How the Grinch Stole Christmas! (1957). But, his design and goals as a writer changed when he read an article on illiteracy in the May 1954 issue of Life magazine. The article said point-blank that the rise of children's illiteracy was due in part, to the lack of interesting reading material they had at hand. Seuss' publisher gave Seuss a list of the 400 of the most important words a child should be reading, and asked Seuss to take the list down to 250 words and write a book. Thus the history of the 220 word story, The Cat in the Hat, Dr. Seuss' most popular book. Next on his resume was Green Eggs and Ham a book that is said to have been written as a result of a bet. Bennett Cerf bet Dr. Seuss $50 that he couldn't write an entire children's book using only fifty words.

During these years of success, Seuss faced harship at home when his wife of over 40 years became very ill. On October 23, 1967, Helen Palmer Geisel committed suicide to relieve her suffering. Shortly after, Seuss met and married Audrey Stone Dimond on June 21, 1968. The two remained married until Seuss' death on September 24, 1991. He was buried in the town he had called home,La Jolla, California. Many honors were given Theodor Seuss Geisel, among them a the Dr. Seuss National Memorial Sculpture Garden which opened in 2002 and is located in his birthplace of Springfield, Massachusetts; it features sculptures of Dr. Seuss and several of his characters.

Poetic meters

Dr. Seuss wrote most of his books in anapestic tetrameter, a meter used by many poets, including Lord Byron. Anapestic tetrameter is made up of four rhythmic units called anapests, and each are composed of two weak beats followed by one strong—schematized below:

x x X x x X x x X x x X

Occasionally, the first weak syllable is left out and added in at the end. A typical line (the first line of If I Ran the Circus) is:

In ALL the whole TOWN the most WONderful SPOT

Seuss employed this meter in his works during the majority of this career, however, in his later works, he did not adhere to this meter as strictly. It is obvious that Seuss's use of meter is one of the major hallmarks of his writings, a hallmark that has never been able to be imitated.

Seuss also explored trochaic tetrameter, which consists of an arrangement of four units each with a strong followed by a weak beat.

X x X x X x X x

One Fish, Two Fish, Red Fish, Blue Fish is a good example. Seuss usually only used trochaic meter for short passages, and then switched to iambic tetrameter (which is much easier to write) for longer passages:

x X x X x X x X

For example, in Bartholomew and the Oobleck, the magicians begin the story by chanting in trochaic tetrameter:

Shuffle, duffle, muzzle, muff

then he switchs to iambic tetrameter for the oobleck spell:

Go make the oobleck tumble down

On every street, in every town!

Artwork

Seuss enjoyed illustrating his books as much as he did writing them. His style was distinctive and original, he began using simple pencil drawings or watercolors, but as his books grew in stature and his talent grew as well. Most of his illustrations are made with black ink, white, and one or two colors.

Seuss's characters and buildings are usually round and somewhat droopy. Both the faces of the Grinch and the Cat are froppy and full, with rounded bellies. He rarely used straight lines, in fact him emphatically avoided them, and his buildings and roads are rotund and curving. To many readers it is his characters that stand out, but to true fans, the architectural creations of Seuss are just as important and amazing. He created elaborate palaces, ramps, platforms, and free-stanidng stairways. He invented several machines, including the most famous one, the Audio-Telly-O-Tally-O-Count, from Dr. Seuss's Sleep Book. Seuss added extravagant detail to his drawings of feathers and fur, take, for example, the 500th hat of Bartholomew Cubbins.

Seuss's was able to convey vivd motion in all of his books. He loved drawing his characters making grand gestures, where the hand is flipping outward, the thumb up and the fingers slightly spread, a type of "voilà" gesture. More than gestures, he also showed motion with the old tradition of using lines, for example, in If I Ran the Circus, there are sweeping lines that indicate the swiftness of Sneelock's final dive. His early experience in cartoon drawing, helped him not only convey motion, but also to illustrated the various senses of sight, smell and sound. In fact, he used lines to portray even the Grinch's evil thoughts.

Politics

File:10425cs.jpg

1941 cartoon by Dr. Seuss depicting Charles Lindbergh.

Serving in World War II gave Seuss a love for his country, but also an urge to activity in politics. Seuss felt deeply about government issues across the globe. He opposed facism and communism and embraced the democracy of his country. Many believe that Seuss used his children's books as an expression of his feelings about social justice. The following are a few examples:

-The Lorax (1971), has been said to be a commentary on environmentalism. The story explores the ill-effects of a ruthless industrialis (the "Once-ler") who completely destroys his environment and inevitably causes the closure of his own company.

-The Sneetches (1961) is seen as a satire of the injustice of racial discrimination.

-The Butter Battle Book (1984) written in Seuss's old age, is both a parody and a personal denunciation of the nuclear arms race. It was attacked by conservatives who felt that Seuss' comparing the Cold War to a battle of bread and butter was debasing and trite.

-The Zax has been seen by many as a parody of political hardliners.

-Yertle the Turtle (1958) is has been compared to an allegory of tyranny, while at the same time advocating the power of political activism.

-In How the Grinch Stole Christmas (1957), Seuss made his values known as his underlying theme was a fight against materialism.

-Thidwick the Big-Hearted Moose (1948) can be seen as an anti-hunting statement.

-Horton Hears a Who! is said to be a response to the atomic bomb.

Adaptations of Seuss's work

Seuss refused to let any of his characters be recreated for film and other mediums, however, he did approve a few cartoons to be made. Among these was the 1966 version of How the Grinch Stole Christmas!, the cartoon was created by Chuck Jones, Seuss's friend since the war. It is a faithful adaptation of the original book, and is considered to be a Christmas classic, appearing in the annual catalog of Christmas television specials. A few other works followed, including Horton Hears a Who!, The Lorax, and The Cat in the Hat.

As Seuss grew older, he became more lax in his stance against adaptations and allowed several other cartoons to be made. After his death in 1991, his wife Audrey was left in charge of all licensing matters. Thus, a live-action verious of How the Grinch Stole Christmas was made, it starred Jim Carrey in the title role. In 2000, the Broadway musical named Seussical debuted. With the success of these two adaptations, a live-action version of Cat in the Hatstarring Mike Myers was released in 2003. However, Audrey seriously disliked Meyers interpretation of the Cat, and declared that there would be no further live-action adaptations of Seuss' books.{{MS-NBC "Seussentenial: 100 years of Dr. Seuss Geisel's widow continues to nutures writer's cast of characters" Updated: 11:42 a.m. PT Feb 26, 2004}}

The Seuss Landing 'island' at the Islands of Adventure theme park in Orlando, Florida is full of Seuss's creations, staying true to the book, everything in this theme park curves around.

In the November 2004 edition of MAD Magazine, (Mad #447) the cover story takes lines from Seuss' books and compare them with similar lines from speeches made by the President George W. Bush. It was titled "The Strange Similarities Between the Bush Administration and the World of Dr. Seuss." The cover drawing was of a Cat in the Hat that resembled Bush.

Trivia

• On the season premiere of Saturday Night Live following Dr. Seuss' death, the Reverend Jesse Jackson was a special guest during the News segment. He declared that "rather than reading from First or Second Samuel, I will read from 'Sam I Am' by the Prophet Seuss," whereupon he read Green Eggs and Ham in the style of a preacher giving an impassioned sermon.
• Dr Seuss was frequently confused, by the US Postal Service among others, with Dr Suess (cf Hans Suess) his contemporary living in the same locality, La Jolla. Ironically, both names have been posthumously linked together: The personal papers of Hans Suess are housed in the Geisel Library at UCSD [2].
• The National Education Association celebrates March 2nd, Dr. Seuss' Birthday, as Read Across America Day. Also known as some version of 'Read Dr. Seuss Day', some adopt the civic as well as fun responsibility to read a Dr. Seuss book to another.
• Was a member of the Lutheran Church-Missouri Synod
• The new High in the Sky Seuss Trolley Train Ride at Islands of Adventure in Orlando, FL lists as its last train stop on its schedule as Springfield, in honor of the birthplace of Dr. Seuss.
• Name checked in the popular R.E.M. song 'The Sidewinder Sleeps Tonite'

List of books

• And to Think That I Saw It on Mulberry Street New York: Beginner Books, Vanguard Press, Random House, 1937 1983 B-Extra 1 ISBN 0394844947
• The 500 Hats of Bartholomew Cubbins New York: Beginner Books, Vanguard Press, Random House, 1938 1984 B-Extra 2 ISBN 039484484X
• The King's Stilts New York: Random House, 1939 ISBN 0394800826
• The Seven Lady Godivas New York: Random House, 1939 ISBN 0394562690
• Horton Hatches the Egg New York: Random House, 1940 ISBN 0007175191
• McElligot's Pool New York: Random House, 1947. Caldecott Honor Book ISBN 0394800834
• Thidwick the Big-Hearted Moose New York: Random House, 1948 ISBN 0007175175
• Bartholomew and the Oobleck New York: Random House, 1949. Caldecott Honor Book ISBN 0394845390
• If I Ran the Zoo New York: Random House, 1950. Caldecott Honor Book ISBN 0007169949
• Scrambled Eggs Super! New York: Random House, 1953 ISBN 0007169965
• Horton Hears a Who! New York: Random House, 1954 ISBN 0679800034
• On Beyond Zebra! New York: Random House, 1955 ISBN 0007175183
• If I Ran the Circus New York: Random House, 1956 ISBN 0394845463
• How the Grinch Stole Christmas! New York: Random House, 1957 ISBN 0007173040
• The Cat in the Hat New York: Beginner Books, Random House, 1957, 1985 B-1 ISBN 0679891110
• The Cat in the Hat|The Cat in the Hat Comes Back New York: Beginner Books, Random House, 1958 1986 B-2 ISBN 0375875387
• Yertle the Turtle|Yertle the Turtle and Other Stories New York: Random House, 1958 ISBN 0517129914
• Happy Birthday to You! New York: Random House, 1959 ISBN 0394800761
• One Fish Two Fish Red Fish Blue Fish New York: Beginner Books, Random House, 1960 1988 B-13 ISBN 0394800133
• Green Eggs and Ham New York: Beginner Books, Random House, 1960, 1988 B-16 ISBN 0007672535
• The Sneetches and Other Stories New York: Random House, 1961 ISBN 0007158505
• Dr. Seuss's Sleep Book New York: Random House, 1962 ISBN 0394800915
• Dr. Seuss's ABC New York: Beginner Books, Random House, 1963, 1991 B-30
• Hop on Pop New York: Beginner Books, Random House, 1963, 1991 B-29
• Fox in Socks New York: Beginner Books, Random House, 1965 1993 B-38
• I Had Trouble in Getting to Solla Sollew New York: Random House, 1965
• The Cat in the Hat Song Book New York: Beginner Books, Random House, 1967, 1994 B-Extra 3
• The Foot Book New York: Bright & Early Books, Random House, 1968, 1996 BE-1
• I Can Lick 30 Tigers Today! and Other Stories New York: Random House, 1969
• My Book about ME New York: Beginner Books, Random House, 1970 - Roy McKie 1995 B-Extra 4
• I Can Draw It Myself New York: Beginner Books, Random House, 1970, 1996 B-Extra 5
• Mr. Brown Can Moo! Can You?: Dr. Seuss's Book of Wonderful Noises! New York: Bright & Early Books, Random House, 1970, 1996 BE-7
• The Lorax New York: Random House, 1971. National Council for the Social Studies Notable Children's Trade Book / Social Studies
• Marvin K. Mooney Will You Please Go Now! New York: Bright & Early Books, Random House, 1972, 1997 BE-13
• Did I Ever Tell You How Lucky You Are? New York: Random House 1973
• The Shape of Me and Other Stuff New York: Bright & Early Books, Random House, 1973, 1997 BE-16
• There's a Wocket in My Pocket! New York: Bright & Early Books, Random House, 1974, 1997 BE-18
• Great Day for Up! New York: Bright & Early Books, Random House, 1974 - (Pictures by Quentin Blake) 1998 BE-19
• Oh, the Thinks You Can Think! New York: Beginner Books, Random House, 1975. (Story and Pictures by Dr. Seuss) 1996 B-62
• The Cat's Quizzer New York: Beginner Books, Random House, 1976, 1993 B-75
• I Can Read with My Eyes Shut! New York: Beginner Books, Random House, 1978, 1996 B-64
• Oh Say Can You Say? New York: Beginner Books, Random House, 1979, 1996 B-65
• Hunches in Bunches New York: Beginner Books, Random House, 1982, 1996 B-Extra 6
• The Butter Battle Book New York: Random House, 1984
• You're Only Old Once! : A Book for Obsolete Children New York: Random House, 1986.
• I Am NOT Going to Get Up Today! New York: Random House, 1987 - (illustrated by James Stevenson) 1996 B-74
• Oh, the Places You'll Go! New York: Random House, 1990
• Daisy - Head Mayzie New York: Beginner Books, Random Housen 1995, 1997 B-Extra 7
• Hooray for Diffendoofer Day! New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 1998. By Dr. Seuss with some help from Jack Prelutsky & Lane Smith (posthumous)
• My Many Colored Days New York : Alfred A. Knopf: Distributed by Random House, 1996. by Dr. Seuss, paintings by Steve Johnson with Lou Fancher (posthumous)
• Gerald McBoing-Boing New York: Random House, 2000 (posthumous)

Omnibus Volumes

• A Hatful of Seuss: Five Favorite Dr. Seuss Stories
  • Bartholomew and the Oobleck (1949), If I Ran the Zoo (1950), Horton Hears a Who! (1954), The Sneetches and Other Stories (1961), and Dr. Seuss's Sleep Book (1962)
• Your Favorite Seuss : A Baker's Dozen by the One and Only Dr. Seuss Molly Leach (Designer)
  • And To Think That I Saw It On Mulberry Street, Horton Hears a Who!, McElligot's Pool, If I Ran the Zoo, Happy Birthday to You!, Dr. Seuss's Sleep Book, Yertle the Turtle, The Cat in the Hat, How the Grinch Stole Christmas!, Green Eggs and Ham, The Lorax, The Sneetches, and Oh, the Places You'll Go!
• Six By Seuss: A Treasury of Dr. Seuss Classics
  • And To Think That I Saw It On Mulberry Street, The 500 Hats of Bartholomew Cubbins, Horton Hatches the Egg, Yertle the Turtle and Other Stories, How the Grinch Stole Christmas, and The Lorax

Writing as Theo. LeSieg

LeSieg is Geisel spelled backwards.

• Ten Apples up on Top!. Illustrated by Roy McKie. ©1961, 1989–2004, B-19
• Come over to My House. Illustrated by Richard Erdoes. ©1966, B-44; 2006, B-Bonus Book
• In a People House. Illustrated by Roy McKie. ©1972, 1997–2007, BE-12
• Wacky Wednesday. Illustrated by George Booth. ©1974, 1996–2006 B-59
• Would You Rather Be a Bullfrog?. Illustrated by Roy McKie. ©1975, 1998–2006, BE-21
• Hooper Humperdink...? Not Him!. Illustrated by Charles E. Martin. ©1976, 1998–2006, BE-22
• Maybe You Should Fly a Jet! Maybe You Should Be a Vet!. Illustated by Michael J. Smollin. ©1980, 1996–2009, B-Extra 8
• The Tooth Book. Illustrated by Joe Mathieu/Roy McKie. 2000/1989, BE-25
• The Eye Book. Illustrated by Joe Mathieu/Roy McKie. 1999/1996, BE-2
• I Wish that I Had Duck Feet. 1994–2006, B-40
• Please Try to Remember the First of Octember!. Illustrated by Art Cummings. 1977, 1997–1999, B-63
• The Many Mice of Mr. Brice. (A pop-up book) BE-15
• I Can Write. Illustrated by Roy McKie. BE-Extra 2
• Are you my Mother?

Writing as Rosetta Stone

• Because a Little Bug Went Ka-choo! illustrated by Michael Frith. New York: Beginner Books, 1975 1996 B-61

Film, television, and theater adaptations

• Horton Hatches the Egg: a 1942 Warner Brothers cartoon, an early Seuss adaptation, which includes the elephant (and his son, at the end) singing a popular nonsense tune of that time, "The Hut-Sut Song" [3].
• The 5,000 Fingers of Dr. T: a 1953 feature-length live-action movie, with sets that look like classic Seuss drawings and screenplay by Dr. Seuss
• How the Grinch Stole Christmas!#Television|How the Grinch Stole Christmas: a 1966 animated television special directed by Chuck Jones for Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer
• Horton Hears a Who!: a 1970 animated television special directed by Chuck Jones for Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer
• The Cat in the Hat: a 1971 animated television special directed by Hawley Pratt for DePatie-Freleng Enterprises and CBS
• The Lorax: a 1972 animated television special directed by Hawley Pratt for DePatie-Freleng Enterprises and CBS
• Dr. Seuss on the Loose: a 1973 animated television special and Movie directed by Hawley Pratt for DePatie-Freleng Enterprises and CBS, Dr. Seuss; this special included the stories The Sneetches, The Zax, and Green Eggs and Ham
• The Hoober-Bloob Highway: a 1975 animated television special directed by Alan Zaslove for DePatie-Freleng Enterprises and CBS
• Halloween Is Grinch Night: a 1977 animated television special directed by Gerard Baldwin for DePatie-Freleng Enterprises and ABC
• Pontoffel Pock, Where Are You?: a 1980 animated television special directed by Gerard Baldwin for DePatie-Freleng Enterprises
• The Grinch Grinches The Cat in the Hat: a 1982 animated television special directed by Bill Perez for DePatie-Freleng Enterprises, Marvel Productions Ltd.
• The Butter Battle Book: a 1989 animated television special by Ralph Bakshi for Turner Entertainment
• In Search of Dr. Seuss: a 1994 television biopic outlining Seuss's life along with his books
• Daisy-Head Mayzie: a 1995 animated television special by Christopher O'Hare for Hanna-Barbera Productions (posthumous)
• Kids for Character: a 1996 animated television special by Character Counts!
• How the Grinch Stole Christmas!: a 2000 live-action film (posthumous)
• Seussical: a 2001 Broadway musical (posthumous)
• The Cat in the Hat: a 2003 live-action film (posthumous)
• Horton Hears a Who! (film): a 2008 CGI film (posthumous)

Further reading

• Theodor Seuss Geisel: The Early Works, Volume 1 (Checker Book Publishing, 2005; ISBN 1-933160-01-2), Early Works Volume 1 is the first of a series collecting various political cartoons, advertisements, and various images drawn by Geisel long before he had written any of his world-famous books.
• Dr. Seuss From Then to Now (New York: Random House, 1987; ISBN 0-394-89268-2) is a biographical retrospective published for the exhibit of the same title at the San Diego Museum of Art
• The Secret Art of Dr. Seuss by Audrey Geisel (New York: Random House, 1995; ISBN 0-679-43448-8) contains many full-color reproductions of Geisel's private, previously unpublished artwork.
• Dr. Seuss Goes to War: The World War II Editorial Cartoons of Theodor Seuss Geisel, a selection with commentary by Richard Minnear (New Press, 2001; ISBN 1-56584-704-0).
• Oh, the Places He Went, a story about Dr. Seuss by Maryann Weidt (Carolrhoda Books, 1995; ISBN 0-87614-627-2)
• The Seuss, the Whole Seuss and Nothing But the Seuss: A Visual Biography of Theodor Seuss Geisel by Charles Cohen (Random House Books for Young Readers, 2004; ISBN 0-375-82248-8).
• Dr. Seuss: American Icon by Philip Nel (Continuum Publishing, 2004; ISBN 0-8264-1434-6)
• The Tough Coughs as he Ploughs the Dough: Early Writings and Cartoons by Dr. Seuss, edited and with an introduction by Richard Marschall (also includes autobiographical material); ISBN 0-688-06548-1

External links

• Seussville site (Random House)
• Brief biography of Dr. Seuss (UC San Diego)
• The Advertising Artwork of Dr. Seuss (UC San Diego)
• The complete Dr. Seuss editorial cartoons (UC San Diego)
• Dr. Seuss at the Internet Movie Database
• "Green eggs and subversion," an essay by Sarah Milroy, Toronto Globe and Mail
• Dr. Seuss on the web
• Dr. Seuss timeline
• The Wall Street Journal - Green Eggs and Ham

Credits

New World Encyclopedia writers and editors rewrote and completed the Wikipedia article in accordance with New World Encyclopedia standards. This article abides by terms of the Creative Commons CC-by-sa 3.0 License (CC-by-sa), which may be used and disseminated with proper attribution. Credit is due under the terms of this license that can reference both the New World Encyclopedia contributors and the selfless volunteer contributors of the Wikimedia Foundation. To cite this article click here for a list of acceptable citing formats.The history of earlier contributions by wikipedians is accessible to researchers here:

• Dr. Seuss  ^history

The history of this article since it was imported to New World Encyclopedia:

• History of "Dr. Seuss"

Note: Some restrictions may apply to use of individual images which are separately licensed.