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Theodor Geisel was born in Springfield Massachusetts on March 2, 1904. He died in 1991. He started going by his middle name Seuss while in college. Around that time, he participated in shenanigans that got him fired from writing comedic content for the “Jack-o-Lantern” at Dartmouth College. The reason he later added the "Dr." to his name was because he felt he had disappointed his father for lacking such a title. In actuality, Seuss later went on to earn multiple honorary doctorates, including ones from Dartmouth and Princeton.

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In 1926 to 1927, he traveled around Europe and also started pursuing art at that time. His work often used comedy, and sometimes touched on social mores or political topics. To see more of his art, go to https://www.drseussart.com/ . In the 1940s, he was contracted to work on an ad campaign for Standard Oil. That was not so much his cup of tea. Then, in 1931 he illustrated a schoolboy cartoon collection called “Boners”. It was the first time he had done professional illustration. This is when he started to consider writing children’s books.

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"And to think that I saw it on Mulberry Street” was his first children’s book, aimed at pulling him away from illustrating. It was also here that his style of art and writing were solidified. "The Cat in the Hat" came later, in 1957.

 

Geisel won many awards including an oscar for the cartoon “Gerald McBoing-Boing” in 1951, an Emmy for a television special on “The Grinch Who Stole Christmas” in 1982, and a Pulitzer Prize for his contributions to children’s literature. He was on the New York Times Bestseller list for 6 months (setting a record) for his book “The Butter Battle Book” which was about nuclear war. To add to his notable accomplishments, he helped found a division of the publishing company Random House that he was a part of called “Bright & Early”. It was dedicated to preschool and kindergarten reading. So he continued his legacy far beyond his simple children's books.

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Stylistically, he was  very keen on keeping with themes. He kept a reference book on his animals and information about them. Green Eggs and Ham was written as part of a bet that Seuss couldnt write a book with only 50 words (Seuss once said it is the only story that still made him laugh). Though critics speculated that  he set out to write didactic messages, Seuss himself said that was not the destination of his writing. It was, however, a natural effect of his plots. He was adamant about “writing to have fun”. He also said that he believed in “Rhythm, Rhyme, Repetition—Rationing….[meaning] Economy with words and their length..."

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He said this:"My books don't insult their [children's] intelligence. Maybe it's because I'm on their level. When I dropped out of Oxford, I decided to be a child, so it's not some condescending adult writing" (Parenting, 1987)

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Fun Fact:  An 8 year old fan once wrote to him: Dear Dr. Seuss, you sure thunk up a lot of funny books, you sure thunk up a million funny animals… who thunk you up Dr. Seuss?

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Was Dr. Suess racist?

Theodor Geisel used racial stereotypes in his earlier books like “If I Ran the Zoo” (there he stereotypes Japanese-Americans). And while in college, many of his cartoons used racial stereotypes about African Americans as well. Yet, he was known to lean politically left- and his book subjects proved that. The Lorax was about environmental sustainability, The Butter Battle Book about nuclear wars. It is of course also important to think about the context of Geisel’s life and society, he is a product of his surroundings and undoubtedly had subconscious biases. Especially in his younger years, he made no attempt to cover his racial prejudices. Below are two political cartoons he made following World War II.

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