Dr. Seuss’s Followers (15,387)

More followers…

Dr. Seuss

Born

in Springfield, MA, The United States

March 02, 1904

Died

September 24, 1991

Website

http://www.seussville.com/

Genre

Children's Books

edit data

Theodor Seuss Geisel was born 2 March 1904 in Springfield, MA. He graduated Dartmouth College in 1925, and proceeded on to Oxford University with the intent of acquiring a doctorate in literature. At Oxford he met Helen Palmer, who he wed in 1927. He returned from Europe in 1927, and began working for a magazine called Judge, the leading humor magazine in America at the time, submitting both cartoons and humorous articles for them. Additionally, he was submitting cartoons to Life, Vanity Fair and Liberty. In some of his works, he'd made reference to an insecticide called Flit. These references gained notice, and led to a contract to draw comic ads for Flit. This association lasted 17 years, gained him national exposure, and coined the catch Theodor Seuss Geisel was born 2 March 1904 in Springfield, MA. He graduated Dartmouth College in 1925, and proceeded on to Oxford University with the intent of acquiring a doctorate in literature. At Oxford he met Helen Palmer, who he wed in 1927. He returned from Europe in 1927, and began working for a magazine called Judge, the leading humor magazine in America at the time, submitting both cartoons and humorous articles for them. Additionally, he was submitting cartoons to Life, Vanity Fair and Liberty. In some of his works, he'd made reference to an insecticide called Flit. These references gained notice, and led to a contract to draw comic ads for Flit. This association lasted 17 years, gained him national exposure, and coined the catchphrase "Quick, Henry, the Flit!"

In 1936 on the way to a vaction in Europe, listening to the rhythm of the ship's engines, he came up with And to Think That I Saw It on Mulberry Street, which was then promptly rejected by the first 43 publishers he showed it to. Eventually in 1937 a friend published the book for him, and it went on to at least moderate success.

During WW II, Geisel joined the army and was sent to Hollywood. Captain Geisel would write for Frank Capra's Signal Corps Unit (for which he won the Legion of Merit) and do documentaries (he won Oscar's for Hitler Lives and Design for Death). He also created a cartoon called Gerald McBoing-Boing which also won him an Oscar.

In May of 1954, Life published a report concerning illiteracy among school children. The report said, among other things, that children were having trouble to read because their books were boring. This inspired Geisel's publisher, and prompted him to send Geisel a list of 400 words he felt were important, asked him to cut the list to 250 words (the publishers idea of how many words at one time a first grader could absorb), and write a book. Nine months later, Geisel, using 220 of the words given to him published The Cat in the Hat, which went on to instant success.

In 1960 Bennett Cerf bet Geisel $50 that he couldn't write an entire book using only fifty words. The result was Green Eggs and Ham. Cerf never paid the $50 from the bet.

Helen Palmer Geisel died in 1967. Theodor Geisel married Audrey Stone Diamond in 1968. Theodor Seuss Geisel died 24 September 1991.

Also worked under the pen name:
Theo Le Sieg ...more

Combine Editions
Dr. Seuss’s books

Average rating: 4.24 · 2,676,777 ratings · 47,189 reviews · 351 distinct works • Similar authors

	Green Eggs and Ham 4.30 avg rating — 511,987 ratings — published 1960 — 80 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	The Cat in the Hat 4.15 avg rating — 338,394 ratings — published 1957 — 116 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Oh, The Places You'll Go! 4.35 avg rating — 279,670 ratings — published 1990 — 51 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	How the Grinch Stole Christmas! 4.36 avg rating — 278,353 ratings — published 1957 — 88 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	The Lorax 4.35 avg rating — 238,642 ratings — published 1971 — 18 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	One Fish, Two Fish, Red Fish, Blue Fish 4.12 avg rating — 136,314 ratings — published 1960 — 58 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Horton Hears a Who! 4.17 avg rating — 86,740 ratings — published 1954 — 42 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	The Sneetches and Other Stories 4.31 avg rating — 58,509 ratings — published 1961 — 20 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	The Cat in the Hat and Other Dr. Seuss Favorites by Dr. Seuss, Various (Reading) 4.41 avg rating — 47,621 ratings — published 2003 — 4 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Fox in Socks 4.06 avg rating — 48,358 ratings — published 1965 — 38 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars

More books by Dr. Seuss…

Series by Dr. Seuss

Horton the Elephant (2 books)
by

Dr. Seuss

4.16 avg rating — 122,374 ratings

Quotes by Dr. Seuss

“Don't cry because it's over, smile because it happened.”
― Dr. Seuss

tags: attributed-no-source, cry, crying, experience, happiness, joy, life, misattributed-dr-seuss, optimism, sadness, smile, smiling

186308 likes

“You know you're in love when you can't fall asleep because reality is finally better than your dreams.”
― Dr. Seuss

tags: attributed-no-source, dreams, love, reality, sleep

110457 likes

“I like nonsense, it wakes up the brain cells. Fantasy is a necessary ingredient in living.”
― Dr. Seuss

tags: fantasy

34925 likes

See all Dr. Seuss's quotes »

Polls

Which author should we read next?

J.R.R. Tolkien

4 votes, 57.1%

Nick Hornby

1 vote, 14.3%

Neil Gaiman

1 vote, 14.3%

Charlotte Bronte

1 vote, 14.3%

Peter Carey

0 votes, 0.0%

Charles Dickens

0 votes, 0.0%

Kari Hotakainen

0 votes, 0.0%

John Ajvide Lindqvist

0 votes, 0.0%

Dr Seuss

0 votes, 0.0%

7 total votes

3 comments

More...

Topics Mentioning This Author

topics	posts	views	last activity
Spring 09 LLED, A...: Wiggle N' Giggle Award	13	115	Mar 29, 2009 02:33PM
100+ Books in 2018: Shauna's Books Read in 2009	9	122	Apr 25, 2009 10:05AM
Glens Falls (NY) ...: What have you memorized?	44	104	Jun 27, 2009 05:08PM
The Book Challenge: laurea's challenge 2009	4	152	Oct 11, 2009 02:28PM
The Roleplay: Plague Characters	53	59	Dec 21, 2009 12:23PM
Challenge: 50 Books: Maxi's 50 Books in 1/2 a year	66	426	Dec 30, 2009 04:09AM
Goodreads Indonesia: Buku Anak2 Indonesia?	20	108	Mar 06, 2010 07:45AM
Who's Your Author?: 15 Books	27	222	Apr 02, 2010 10:49AM

More…

Dr. Seuss’s Followers (15,387)

Dr. Seuss

Combine EditionsDr. Seuss’s books

Series by Dr. Seuss

Quotes by Dr. Seuss

Polls

Topics Mentioning This Author

Combine Editions
Dr. Seuss’s books