Dr. Seuss

Introduction

                "I do not like green eggs and ham, I do not like them Sam I am!"  That sentence is what started big Dr. Seuss career.  This famous writer didn't start out as one; he did many things such as drawing and painting. Dr. Seuss had a very interesting and yet surprising life, like his childhood, college, career, and even the Army.  Stay tuned and let your mind explore.  

Childhood/ memories

            Theodore Seuss Geisel, or as we call him, Dr. Seuss was born in 1904 in Springfield, Massachusetts.  His father (Theodore Robert) and grandfather were brew masters in the city at the time.  Ted's mother (Henrietta Geisel) would sing him and his siblings chanting rhymes to help them fall asleep. Ted loved the rhymes so much that he started making up his own.

            Theodore started drawing at a pretty young age.  Theodore would go to the local zoo; at this time his father was now a superintendent there.  He would draw the animals there in different ways you might say.   He gave them different noses, ears, and mouths.  He would even give them different names to make them a different animal.

            Theodore's memories of Springfield influenced him in his work.  For example: Theodore got the idea for the drawing of Horton the elephant wandering around the streams of the Jungle of Nool by seeing his     reflection in Springfield's watercourse in the Forest park. 

 College/Art

Dr. Seuss left Springfield and decided to attend Dartmouth College.   There he became the editor-in- chief of the Jack-O-lantern (Dartmouth's Humor magazine).  Theodore, usually called Ted, got in trouble for having a party and got kicked off the magazine.  His "job" was ended.  Although Ted was not on the magazine anymore, he still contributed his ideas, which were often very funny.

His father on the other hand wanted Ted to become a college professor.  So Ted attended Oxford College after his Graduation.

Ted never really "learned" how to draw.  He drew weird creatures in his elementary school notebooks.  His work gave a clear message to children and adults. Ted used distinctive and unique colors.  Some critics considered Dr. Seuss's work as funny, but Dr. Seuss took his work very seriously.  He hated when his work was called "crazy" or "whimsical".    

Early Career/ inspirations

Oxford didn't work out for Ted, so he decided to pursue his dream and become a cartoonist. The Saturday Evening Post and other publishers published some of his work. At this point Dr. Seuss was not writing, and most of his work was used to advertise standard oil.  He advertised for about 15 years. 

             Ted was pretty shy until he really got to know someone. He liked to have a friend with a sense of humor and who would participate in his mischief.  The most influential person in Ted's early career was Cerf.  Cerf bet Ted that he couldn't write a book in 50 words or less, and that's how he wrote Green Eggs and Ham.

                Ted loved to write books that made children want to read more and more.   He would occasionally write about current events that happened, so he could teach children about what happened in their life with a fun and encouraging way.  The children didn't even know they were learning.

Career/Pen name

            Ted continued to provide illustrations to Life, Judge, and Vanity Fair.  Viking Press offered him a contract to illustrate children's sayings.  The book wasn't a success, but people loved the illustrations.  Ted's first book "And to Think I saw it on Mulberry Street" got rejected 27 times before it finally got published.  "The Cat in the Hat" is the book Dr. Seuss was known for.  He and his wife now purchased an old observation tower and he would write in his office for more than 8 hours each day.

Dr. Seuss was not his original name, but it is what we called a pen name.  Seuss was his mother's maiden name.  She was an immigrant from Germany.  Her name was originally pronounced as "zoice", the z is pronounced as an s and the "oice" is pronounced as "euss".  Therefore the American translation for Zoice is Seuss.

                Dr. Seuss also had another pen name.  He used Theo. LeSieg.  Theo was part of his first name and LeSieg was his last name spelled Backwards.  He used this pen name more in his books for adults.  He felt kids would understand " Dr.Seuss" opposed to Theo. LeSieg. 

Army

  Ted decided to take a break from all of the writing and joined the army.  In 1943 Theodore Seuss Geisel join the war.  Before he could actually go fight he had to go to the Frank Capra's Signal Corps unit in Hollywood.  He past the academy, and went to war.  While he was in the army he still wrote down ideas and sketches on what he might want to do later. Seuss was an outstanding gunman; he was awarded the Legion of Merit, but figured he would go back to writing. Although he was out of the Army he wrote films for the United States Armed Forces.  One of his Famous films was "Your Job in Germany".  Seuss found it exiting for a little while to write for the armed force, but wanted to go back into writing children's books. 

Death

            Everyone has to die sooner or later.  Theodore Seuss Geisel had many years of wonderful writing and happy children. He suffered through many sicknesses and finally gave up.  Our beloved Dr. Seuss died on September 24, 1991.

Conclusion

So now we’ve learned about dr. Seuss’s wonderful writing career and much more.  His life had its twists and turns, but through it all he wrote and illustrated over 44 children’s book that we have read and love.  (Dr. Seuss, 1904-1991) 

Work Sited

All About Dr.Seuss.  2002-2004. http://www.catinthehat.org/history.htm

Dr. Seuss. 2000-2002. Free Software Foundation Inc. http://www.todayswomen.net/article576.html

“Geisel, Theodore (1904-1991). (Narrative biography).”  Encyclopedia of world    Biography.  Thompson Gale, 1998.NA.General One File. Gale. REMC 13.11.Feb.2009

Personal Life and Interests. 2008. Random House Inc.http://www.seussville.com/main.php?section=home&isbn=&catalogID=&eventID=