02 Mar 2011 No Comments
Happy Birthday, Dr. Seuss! 10 facts about the good doctor.
Apparently, Mrs. Obama does not like green eggs and ham.
Or so she said today at the Library of Congress where the NEA kicked off Read Across America Day nationwide in conjunction with what would have been Dr. Seuss’s 107th birthday. Thousands of schools, libraries, and community centers will be participating with kids everywhere reading “The Cat in the Hat” and “Green Eggs and Ham” while wearing floppy red and white hats.
So in honor of his birthday today March 2, here are 10 quick facts about the good doctor. However, I must add that I found so much contradictory legend and lore about Dr. Seuss floating around out there that I can’t completely state that everything you’re reading here is 100% accurate. But, hey, no one liked a good story than Dr. Seuss himself.
1. Dr. Seuss’s first children’s book was “And To Think That I Saw It on Mulberry Street.” It was rejected some 30 times before finally being published. And then, legend has it, it was only sold because a friend in the publishing business was looking for children’s books.
2. Dr. Seuss is author of four of the 10 best-selling children’s books of all time, including “The Cat in the Hat;” “Green Eggs and Ham;” “One Fish, Two Fish, Red Fish, Blue Fish;” and “Hop on Pop.” Sadly, Seuss has not yet captured the number one slot, which currently belongs to Janette Lowrey’s “The Pokey Little Puppy.”
3. Dr. Seuss never had children. “You have them,” he was fond of saying, “I’ll entertain them.” He did however have a close relationship with his nephew who was the inspiration for “Green Eggs and Ham.”
4. Theodor Geisel was his real name. His first use of the nom de plume “Seuss” occurred during his Darmouth College years when he could no longer openly publish in the school’s humor magazine as a punishment for a rules violation. Seuss was his mother’s maiden name and his own middle name. And then he wisely changed his pronunciation of “Seuss” from “soice” to “soose” due to its sound similarity with Mother Goose, which he thought would be helpful to a children’s book author. Way to build a brand, doc.
5. He was on track to become a professor, studying philosophy at Oxford, when the woman who would later become his first wife, Helen Palmer, noticed his drawings and suggested he become an artist instead. Sadly, Helen would later commit suicide. A year later, he would remarried.
6. Geisel supported himself and his wife during the Great Depression by illustrating ads for Standard Oil, General Electric and NBC. His “Quick Henry, the Flit!” insecticide ads became nationally famous.
7. Dr. Seuss’ works have won two Academy Awards, two Emmys, a Peabody and a Pulitzer.
8. There are only 50 words in “The Cat in the Hat.”
9. He also published under the names of Theo. LeStieg and Rosetta Stone. He wrote works for adults including “The Seven Lady Godivas” published in 1939, which was a commercial and critical failure. He wrote screenplays as well.
10. Geisel died of throat cancer on September 24, 1991. His birthday of March 2nd has been adopted as National Read Across America Day.
