The Great
Dr. Seuss
By Michelle McCarthy
Period 3
Mr. Mooney
April 25, 2007
Who says that staying
young forever is bad?
Dr. Seuss had the mind of
a child but lived
on for over
90 years.
“Adults are just obsolete children
and the hell with them.”
-Dr. Seuss
The Background Basics
• Born March 2, 1904 in Springfield, Massachusetts
• Started reading books by Dickens and Stevenson at a
young age because of German background called
names like Kaiser
• Mother used to chant rhymes and he credited her for “
the rhymes in which I write and the urgency with which
I do it” –Theodor Seuss Geisel
• Father was zookeeper which may have influenced
stories like If I Ran the Zoo
*during his childhood (World War I years), frankenfurters were called
“hotdogs” and sauerkraut “liberty cabbage” as an act of U.S. patriotism
Early Life
• Attended Dartmouth where “Ted grew to
respect the academic discipline he
discovered at Dartmouth- not enough to
pursue it, but to appreciate those who did.”
(Morgan 28)
• Editor-in-chief for humor magazine Jack-OLantern at his college
• Lost editor privilege after getting caught
throwing a drinking party with his friends
• Went under new name, Seuss, to continue to
contribute to the magazine without the
suspicion of officials
• After college, went to Oxford where he met
his wife Helen Palmer who suggested he
become an artist rather than a professor
• Met wife Helen Palmer there, who saw his
doodles, suggested he become artist instead
of professor.
• Didn’t like the scholarly ways, took trip to
Europe for a year
Advertising
• Drew for The Saturday Evening Post
• When Ted was offered two advertising jobs by two competing firms,
he flipped a coin to make his decision and worked for Standard Oil
as a result for over 15 years
• “As a result ‘Quick, Henry, the Flit!’ was introduced into
the American Vernacular.” (Morgan 65)
*Adopted Dr. because said dad always wanted a doctor in the family
WWII Efforts
•Too old to fight, served with
Frank Capra's Signal Corps
(U.S. Army) in making training
movies starring Private Snafu,
this is where he was first
exposed to animation
•“The Private Snafu
assignments that Ted oversaw
included scripts set to rhyme”
(Morgan 109)
•He also drew political cartoons
for the PM magazine, a liberal
publication
More Political Cartoons
“You make 'em, I amuse 'em.”
-Dr. Seuss
• Wrote first book, And to
Think That I Saw It on
Mulberry Street, and had it
rejected by 27 publishers
• First break when he ran into
friend his friend from
Dartmouth, McClintock, who
had just received a job as
editor at Vanguard. He
showed the book to the
people in charge, and soon
the book was published
*Sometimes wrote under Theo LeSeig and let other people illustrate
The Cat in the Hat
Next book was a response to
Hersey’s article Why Johnny Can’t
Read
“He called for illustrations that ‘widen
rather than narrow the associative
richness the children give to the
words,’ and concluded the work of
artists like Geisel and Walt Disney
would be more appropriate.”
(Morgan 153-54)
In 225 words wrote The Cat in the
Hat, published by Random House.
Earned position as head of the
Beginner Books division
Original cat in the hat drawings
Continued to write, wife wrote 4
books as well, his books entertained
while teaching morals
“I like nonsense, it wakes up the
brain cells. Fantasy is a necessary
ingredient in living. It's a way of
looking at life through the wrong
end of a telescope, which is what I
do, and that enables you to laugh
at life's realities.”
-Dr. Seuss
Green Eggs and Ham
Publisher Bennett Cerf wagered $50
that Ted couldn’t write a book using 50
words or less, in response, Ted wrote
Green Eggs and Ham, one of his most
popular books. Ted often joked that
Cerf never paid up.
The Prankster Within
•
• Ted once drew
cartoons on the vest
of a distinguished
naval officer, whom he
caught sleeping
•
Phony pages in his
manuscripts to make
sure editors paying
attention
In his book of the
alphabet he inserted a
page for the letter X of
a large-breasted
woman and the text:
"Big X, little X, XXX,
some day, kiddies,
you will learn about
sex."
For Adults?
• The Butter Battle Book remained, for six months, on the
New York Times Bestseller List . . . for adults.
• It mocked the race for arms with the Yooks and the Gooks
fighting simply because the other ate their bread butter
side down.
• Ted wrote and illustrated a picture book for adults titled
The Seven Lady Godivas, and that it almost became a
Broadway musical?
“Sometimes the questions are
complicated and the answers are
simple.”
–Dr. Seuss
Spare Time
• Also liked to garden
• According to Cathy
Goldsmith, his art
director from 1980-91,
“his sense of color
was very
idiosyncratic”
• Wanted critical
recognition as artist,
but never sold
paintings afraid of
rejection
Punish Your Offspring Scientifically!
Fort or fifty years ago, when I was a boy, I
swore like a trooper. Although
my mother continually washed out my
mouth with soap and water, today I swear
worse that ever. Mother's mistake was in
using only one kind of soap!
Modern mothers realize that every single
curse word must be treated
individually with a special brand of suds.
-Dr. Seuss
Random Interesting Facts
Dr. “Zoice” ->
• When Ted quit smoking, he planted
radish seeds in a corncob pipe and
watered them with an eyedropper
• Ted made up the word Nerd
• Harry Potter was the top seller of kids
books, right below Seuss.
His Legacy
• Books translated into
more than 15
languages.
• Over 200 million
copies published
•Books source for 11 children's
television specials, 1 Broadway
musical and a feature-length motion
picture. With more on the way
•He won 2 Academy awards, 2
Emmy awards, a Peabody award
and the Pulitzer Prize.
Pictures of Seuss
His work is so simple, yet no
one has compared to him.
How long will it be until
there is a new Dr. Seuss?
Bibliography
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"All About Dr. Seuss." 2004. Tortus Technologies, Inc. 18 Apr.
2007 <http://www.catinthehat.org/history.htmTM>.
"Did You Know..." Art on 5th. 21 Apr. 2007
<http://www.arton5th.com/seuss/facts.htm>.
"Dr. Seuss." Buying the Cow. 03 Jan. 2006. 20 Apr. 2007
<http://www.norcalblogs.com/buying/archives/2006/01/dr_seuss.
html>.
"Dr. Seuss." The Everything Development Company. 12 Apr.
2000. 20 Apr. 2007
<http://everything2.com/index.pl?node=Dr.%20Seuss>.
"Early Works by Dr. Seuss." 20 Apr. 2007
<http://www.afn.org/~afn15301/seussfiles/early.html>.
"How Orlo Got His Book." The New York Times 17 Nov. 1957:
22.
Morgan, Judith, and Neil Morgan. Dr. Seuss & Mr. Geisel. New
York: Da Capo P, 1995. 1-293.
Neary, Lynn. "Fifty Years of the Cat in the Hat." Children's
Books. 1 Mar. 2007. NPR. 19 Apr. 2007
<http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=7651308#
7649624>.
Nevius, C W. "Hats Off to Dr. Seuss." San Francisco Chronicle
03 Mar. 2003. 20 Apr. 2007.
Otis, Rebecca. "Feuture Author: Dr. Seuss." Carol Hurst's
Children's Literature Site. 2007. 19 Apr. 2007
<http://www.carolhurst.com/authors/drseuss.html>.