Celebrating Seuss

Wednesday was the birthday of Dr Seuss. Room 6 and 7 celebrated this awesome author with a dress-up, stories and activities.

What was your favourite Dr Seuss book growing up? Mine was and probably still is "The Lorax."

Theodor Seuss Geisel was born on March 2, 1904, in Springfield, Massachusetts. His grandparents were German immigrants. He grew up around a wealthy extended family during World War I which helped shape his patriotism. 

As a scout, he sold War bonds and as the story goes, he sold so many that he was to be honored by President Theodor Roosevelt. When the award ceremony took place, however, Roosevelt only had nine medals leaving young Seuss without a medal. 

Seuss graduated from high school in 1921 and attended Dartmouth College where he joined a humour magazine called the Dartmouth Jack-O-Lantern. He would eventually become editor-in-chief of the publication, but when he was caught drinking he was forced to resign. This was the time of Prohibition and there was a zero-tolerance policy.

Seuss drew over 400 political cartoons during World War II for the New York daily newspaper called “PM.” Many of them were politically charged against the dictators Hitler and Mussolini.

By the 1950s, he wrote children’s books after the war in La Jolla, California under the pen name Dr. Seuss. Some of these were “The Cat in the Hat,” “How the Grinch Stole Christmas,” and “Green Eggs and Ham,” and he continued to write until his death on September 24, 1991. His legacy lives on as his beloved children’s books continue to sell well and inspire young people to read. 

1. Theodor Seuss Geisel says he adopted the pen name "Dr. Seuss" because he was saving his real name for the Great American Novel he intended to write one day.

2. Dr. Seuss was not a doctor. He briefly studied English literature at Oxford after graduating from Dartmouth but instead became a cartoonist. In 1955, Dartmouth awarded him an honorary doctorate.

3. Only four of the 44 books Dr. Seuss wrote and illustrated are written in prose.

4. Dr. Seuss wrote "The Cat in the Hat" because he was concerned about kids learning to read. A publisher reportedly challenged him to "Write me a story that first-graders can't put down!"

The hat worn by The Cat in the Hat adorns Dr. Seuss' posthumous star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame after dedication ceremonies in 2004.

5. Dr. Seuss has received two Emmys, a Peabody Award and a Pulitzer Prize.