Author Spotlight - Happy Birthday Theodore Geisel!

Long before Sam I Am refused to eat green eggs and ham, Theodore Geislel’s first children’s book, And to Think That I Saw it on Mulberry Street was rejected 26 different times by publishers. Thank goodness Geisel had tenacity. It is hard to imagine any child’s bookshelf without The Cat in the Hat or Hop on Pop.

Theodore Geisel was born in Springfield, Massachusetts in 1904. He attended Dartmouth College where he wrote and then became editor in chief of the school newspaper. He was caught throwing a party with alcohol, a serious offense, as it was during Prohibition, and was told he could no longer write for the paper. This is when he adopted the pen name Dr. Seuss. (There’s something they don’t tell the kiddies at school!)
Dr. Seuss went on to write and illustrate over 60 books in 54 years, between 1937 and 1990. He also illustrated the majority of his books as well.

During World War II, Geisel, with only a handful of children’s books published, turned his focus to drawing political cartoons. He had over 400 published. He also designed posters for the U.S. treasury and eventually enlisted in the army in 1943, where he was in charge of writing films with titles such as “Your Job in Germany” about post war peace in Europe.

After the War, Geisel lived the rest of his days in La Jolla California writing and illustrating children’s books.

As children we loved the crazy creatures, the rhymes and the humor in the Dr. Seuss books. But Dr. Seuss also gave us something deeper. He gave us permission to be ourselves and be proud of who we are. He had a way of imparting wisdom that even our parents and teachers could not.

Here are some of my favorite Dr. Seuss quotes:

“You have brains in your head. You have feet in your shoes. You can steer yourself, any direction you choose.”

“Today you are you, that is truer than true. There is no one alive who is youer than you.”

“Be who you are and say what you feel because those who mind don't matter and those who matter don't mind.”

“Don't cry because it's over. Smile because it happened.”