Dr. Seuss

Theodor Seuss Geisel (March 2, 1904 – September 24, 1991), better known by his pen name, Dr. Seuss, was a famous American writer and cartoonist best known for his children's books, particularly The Cat in the Hat. He also wrote under the pen names Theo. more...

Home
Arts & Photography
Biographies & Memoirs
Business & Investing
Children's Books
Ages 4-8
Arthur
Books on Cassette
Classic Books on CD
Classics
Dr. Seuss
Early Reader Series
General
Picture Books
Pokémon
Read-Aloud
Staff Favorites
Ages 9-12
Animals
Arts & Music
Authors & Illustrators, A-Z
Baby-3
Books on Cassette
Books on CD
Computers
Educational
History & Historical Fiction
Issues
Literature
Obsessions
People & Places
Popular Characters
Reference & Nonfiction
Religions
Science, Nature & How It...
Series
Sports & Activities
Comics & Graphic Novels
Cooking, Food & Wine
Entertainment

LeSieg and Rosetta Stone.

Life and work

Geisel was born on March 2, 1904 in Springfield, Massachusetts. He grew up at 74 Fairfield Street, an ideal location for a youngster, as it was only six blocks from the zoo where his father worked. Furthermore, 74 Fairfield was but three blocks from the library. He graduated from Dartmouth College in 1925, where he was a member of Sigma Phi Epsilon, the Casque & Gauntlet Society, and wrote for the Dartmouth Jack-O-Lantern humor magazine under his own name and the pen name \"Seuss.\" He entered Lincoln College, Oxford, intending to earn a doctorate in literature. At Oxford he met Helen Palmer, married her in 1927, and returned to the United States without earning his doctorate.

He began submitting humorous articles and illustrations to Judge (a humor magazine), The Saturday Evening Post, Life, Vanity Fair, and Liberty. One notable \"Technocracy Number\" made fun of Technocracy, Inc. and featured satirical rhymes at the expense of Frederick Soddy. He became nationally famous from his advertisements for Flit, a common insecticide at the time. His slogan, \"Quick, Henry, the Flit!\" became a popular catchphrase. Geisel supported himself and his wife through the Great Depression by drawing advertising for General Electric, NBC, Standard Oil, and many other companies. He also wrote and drew a short lived comic strip called Hejji in 1935.

Even at this early stage, Geisel had started using the pen name \"Dr. Seuss\". His first work signed as \"Dr. Seuss\" appeared six months into his work for Judge. Seuss was his mother's maiden name; as an immigrant from Germany, she would have pronounced it more or less as \"zoice\" (as it is pronounced in German), but today it is universally pronounced in English with an initial s sound and rhyming with \"juice\". The \"Dr.\" is an acknowledgement of his father's unfulfilled hopes that Seuss would earn a doctorate at Oxford. Geisel also used the pen name Theo. LeSieg (Geisel spelled backwards) for books he wrote but others illustrated.

In 1936, while Seuss sailed again to Europe, the rhythm of the ship's engines inspired the poem that became his first book, And to Think That I Saw It on Mulberry Street. Seuss wrote three more children's books before World War II (see list of works below), two of which are, atypically for him, in prose.

As World War II began, Dr. Seuss turned to political cartoons, drawing over 400 in two years as editorial cartoonist for the left-wing New York City daily newspaper, PM. Dr. Seuss's political cartoons opposed the viciousness of Hitler and Mussolini and were highly critical of isolationists, most notably Charles Lindbergh, who opposed American entry into the war. His cartoons were strongly supportive of President Roosevelt's conduct of the war, combining the usual exhortations to ration and contribute to the war effort with frequent attacks on Congress (especially the Republican Party), parts of the press (such as the New York Daily News and Chicago Tribune), and others for criticism of Roosevelt, criticism of aid to the Soviet Union, investigation of suspected Communists, and other offenses that he depicted as leading to disunity and helping the Nazis, intentionally or inadvertently. Some cartoons depicted all Japanese Americans as latent traitors or fifth-columnists, while at the same time other cartoons deplored the racism at home against Jews and blacks that harmed the war effort.

Read more at Wikipedia.org