This week marks the birth of a literary legend. Theodor Seuss Geisel, more famously known as Dr. Seuss, was born on March 2, 1904 in Springfield, Massachusetts. It’s hard to imagine a childhood without Dr. Seuss. I vividly recall several of his books being among my childhood favorites. Those catchy rhymes and silly stories. What child wouldn’t be captivated? I remember my favorites being One Fish, Two Fish, Red Fish , Blue Fish and Marvin K. Mooney, Will You Please Go Now!
Ted Geisel entered Dartmouth College in 1921 and graduated in June 1925. Dartmouth was where he first began using the pseudonym “Seuss,” when he was writing for Jack-O-Lantern, the college humor magazine. Seuss was his mother’s maiden name and was pronounced in the German manner: Zoice (rhymes with voice).
Dr. Seuss’s first children’s book was published in 1937 after it was previously rejected by publishers 27 times. And To Think That I Saw It On Mulberry Street was based on his recollections from life in Springfield. Geisel was walking down Madison Avenue, about to throw the book away, when he ran into former classmate Mike McClintock, who had just been appointed juvenile editor of Vanguard Press. McClintock promptly took him up to his office where they signed a contract for Mulberry Street. Dr. Seuss once said, “That’s one of the reasons I believe in luck. If I’d been going down the other side of Madison Avenue, I would be in the dry-cleaning business today!” Author Beatrix Potter called the book “the cleverest book I have met with for many years.”
After an article in Life magazine ran in 1954 claiming that boring school primers were a major cause of children not wanting to read, William Spaulding (then director of Houghton Mifflin’s education division) challenged Dr. Seuss to “write me a story that first-graders can’t put down,” while using only 225 words chosen from a list of 348. Dr. Seuss accomplished the task using 236! The runaway success of The Cat in the Hat inspired Beginner Books, a division of Random House that would publish books designed to help children learn to read. In the fall of 1958, The Cat in the Hat Comes Back and four other titles launched the Beginner Books series. One of his next huge successes, Green Eggs and Ham, was published as a Beginner Book in 1960. Dr. Seuss’s publisher bet him that he could not write a book using fifty or fewer different words. The resulting book, which has the fewest words of all his books, is his best-selling title.
Try this fun quiz to see which Dr. Seuss character you are most like.
Take the quiz here.
Here’s my result:
Which character are you?
Which Dr. Seuss books do you remember most fondly?
Information for this post was quoted from content found at:
https://www.seussville.com/dr-seuss/.
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The first Dr. Seuss book I remember reading was green eggs and ham. I always wondered how he got the eggs and ham green 😂
Me, too. It never seemed very appetizing to me. I don’t think I’d like green eggs and ham, either. 🙂
I got Horton too! 🙂
Yay! Oh . . . wait a minute . . . I think I hear a who . . . 🙂
Like you I’m Horton! Fun and interesting post!
Thanks, Linda. 🙂 I had such fun learning about the man, myself.
I am Sam-I-am. Apparently I am stubborn. And that I am.
Loved Dr. Seuss as a child. My children read Dr. Seuss. Now the books are packed away – saving for future grandchildren!
I have a bunch of books I’m saving for grandchildren, too, Melissa. So many great memories!
Such a fun and interesting post! I got Horton.😊 I never realized his name was pronounced Zoice! I think that is a much better choice! Haha
Clever, Suzanne! I’m sure the rhyming master would appreciate it. 🙂
I’m a huge fan of his work! I remember his books vaguely from my childhood but truly fell in love with them when I read them to my own kids. My favorites are: The Grinch Who Stole Christmas and The Cat in the Hat.
I took the quiz and I’m Sam-I-Am! 🙂
So fun, Becky! I remember being out of sorts with the cat for getting those two well-behaved children in trouble. Ha!
Not surprised that, like you, I am Horton. I love Dr. Seuss books! The one I remember reading over and over to my daughter was Mr. Brown Can Moo, Can You? I am trying to build up my granddaughter’s Dr. Seuss library, too! 🙂
That is a grandma’s sacred duty, D’Ann. 🙂 Sharing our love of books with the next generation.
My results showed that I’m most like Horton too. I teach part time at an after-school learning center, and our youngest students absolutely adore Dr. Seuss books! What a fun and clever author!
He certainly knew how to activate the imagination, didn’t he? I love that you share reading with young kids after school, Suzanne. That’s wonderful!
Green Eggs & Ham and One Fish, Two Fish, Red Fish, Blue Fish are two of my favorites! When I taught elementary school, we would celebrate his birthday by having a party complete with green eggs & ham and also a visit by the Cat in the Hat (who was actually a high school student in disguise). The kids loved it! 🙂
That sounds like so much fun, Jen!
The Lorax! I started reading “One Fish, Two Fish” to my son as a newborn, because I was bored to tears. It paid to start him early; he’s now a Ph.D. candidate!
What an awesome success story, Janice. My daughter is actually doing a campus visit today to decide which of two PhD programs she’ll be entering in the fall. Exciting times!
I got Horton too!
I got the Cat in the Hat! I remember frequently reading “Green Eggs & Ham” and “The Sneetches and Other Stories.”