Theodor Seuss Geisel

Mary Carr Theodor “Ted” Seuss Geisel was born on 2 March 1904 to Henrietta and Theodor Robert in Springfield, Massachusetts. The family lived on Howards Street near Mulberry Street, which became the subject of his first book years after.

Mary Carr Theodor attended Dartmouth College in Hanover, New Hampshire in 1921 and wrote for the college’s magazine Dartmouth Jack O-Lantern where he eventually became its Editor-In-Chief. He was later caught drinking in his room, which was prohibited during those times and was forced to resign from the school paper. Ted continued writing under the administration’s knowledge and used the pen name “Seuss”.

Mary Carr The Dartmouth Jack-O-Lantern (also known as the Jacko) was a college humor magazine, founded at Dartmouth College in 1908. Pictured is Ted’s early cartoon for Dartmouth Jack O-Lantern.

Mary Carr Theodor worked for the satirical magazine Judge as a writer and illustrator. His first cartoon appeared in the magazine on 22 October 1927.

Mary Carr After graduating from Dartmouth in 1925, Theodor continued to pursue English Literature in Lincoln College, Oxford in the UK where he met his wife Helen Palmer. The couple married on 29 November 1927.

Mary Carr Six months after Theodor started working for Judge magazine, he adopted the pen name “Dr. Seuss”. One of his early cartoons mentioned “Flit”-- a bug spray. The manufacturer of Flit, Standard Oil New Jersey, eventually signed him to do a series of advertisements for the product. His first Flit ad was published on 31 May 1928. The catchphrase “Quick, Henry, The Flit!” became a part of popular culture.

Mary Carr In 1931, "The Pocket Book of B****s" was released. Dr Seuss illustrated the book, with 1.34 million copies being sold. During this time, the term "b***r" referred to a "silly mistake". The book contained 22 illustrations of b*****s (blunders), drawn by Dr Seuss. Whilst, the remainder of the volume consisted of short jokes and humorous observations.

Mary Carr Dr. Seuss and his wife had travelled to 30 countries by 1936. Returning from an ocean voyage to Europe with his wife, the rhythm of the ship’s engine inspired him to create the poem that led to the publishing of his first book. “And To think That I Saw It On Mulberry Street” was published on 21 December 1937.

Mary Carr At least 20 publishers rejected "And to Think That I Saw It on Mulberry Street" before Geisel ran into an old college classmate, who had just become junior editor at Vanguard Press. Which led to Vangaud Press publishing and printing 15,000 copies of the book.

Mary Carr Dr. Seuss wrote and illustrated a children’s book about Horton the Elephant and his adventures saving Whoville, a tiny planet located on a small speck of dust, from the evil animals who mock him. The book was called “Horton Hears A Who!” and was published on 12 August 1954.

Mary Carr "Cat in the Hat" follows a quirky cat who wears a red and white-striped hat and a red bow tie. The book was later adapted into a 1971 animated television special and a 2003 live-action film.

Mary Carr Beginner Books is the Random House imprint for young children ages 3–9, co-founded by Phyllis Cerf with Ted Geisel, more often known as Dr. Seuss, and his wife Helen Palmer Geisel.

Mary Carr In 1957 Dr. Seuss published two of his iconic works: “The Cat In The Hat”, which was published on 12 March 1957 and “How The Grinch Stole Christmas” exactly 7 months after. He later on became the president of Beginner Books publishing.

Mary Carr “How The Grinch Stole Christmas" book cover. It follows the Grinch, a grouchy, solitary creature who attempts to put an end to Christmas by stealing Christmas gifts and decorations from the homes of the nearby town of Whoville on Christmas Eve.

Mary Carr Dr. Seuss wrote and illustrated “Green Eggs and Ham”, first published on 12 August 1960. The book was composed of only 50 words, aimed to teach children vocabulary. By 2001, it had become the fourth best selling English-Language children’s hardcover book.

Mary Carr The book has sold 8 million copies worldwide, these are the only 50 words used in the book: a, am, and, anywhere, are, be, boat, box, car, could, dark, do, eat, eggs, fox, goat, good, green, ham, here, house, I, if, in, let, like, may, me, mouse, not, on, or, rain, Sam, say, see, so, thank, that, the, them, there, they, train, tree, try, will, with, would, you.

Mary Carr Due to its popularity and lessons about materialism and consumerism of the Christmas season, “How The Grinch Stole Stole Christmas!” was first adapted into a television special on 18 December 1966.

Mary Carr Helen Palmer was an author best-known for; "Do You Know What I'm Going to Do Next Saturday?", "I Was Kissed by a Seal at the Zoo" and "A Fish Out Of Water". Horrifically, in 1967, Helen took her own life. She left Ted and many other loved ones rocked by the shocking news.

Mary Carr Theodor later married Audrey Stone-Dimond on 6 August 1968. Audrey was a film producer, known for "The Lorax" (2012), "Horton Hears a Who!" (2008) and "The Grinch" (2018).

Mary Carr "Horton Hears a Who!" was adapted into a half-hour animated TV special by MGM Animation/Visual Arts in 1970.

Mary Carr "The Cat in the Hat" became an animated musical TV special which premiered in 1971.

Mary Carr A Peabody Award honouring individuals who made an impact on media was given to Theodor in 1971 for his iconic animated tv specials “Horton Hears A Who!” and “How The Grinch Stole Christmas”.

Mary Carr In 1973, “Green Eggs and Ham” became the third of the three Theodor Geisel stories, joining "The Sneetches" and "The Zax", to be adapted into the television special "Dr. Seuss on the Loose".

Mary Carr "Dr. Seuss on the Loose" is an American animated musical television special, first airing in 1973. The special is hosted by "The Cat in the Hatz", who introduces animated adaptations.

Mary Carr Due to his contribution to Children’s Literature, Theodor Giesel received the prestigious Pulitzer Prize in 1984.

Mary Carr Theodor Giesel died due to cancer on 24 September 1991. He was 87, his family chose to scatter his ashes in the Pacific Ocean.

Mary Carr The University Library Building of the University of California, San Diego was renamed Geisel Library in honour of Theodor and Audrey Giesel in 2001.

Mary Carr In 2003, "The Cat in the Hat", a live-action film adaptation, was released. The film grossed $133,960,541 worldwide on an estimated $109 million budget.

Mary Carr "Dr. Seuss: Green Eggs and Ham" is a single-player, handheld video game for Game Boy Advance based on the 1960 book of the same name published by NewKidCo and released in November 2003.

Mary Carr The US Children’s Librarians established the annual Theodor Seuss Geisel Award to recognise books for beginning readers. The first recipient of the award was given in 2006 to Cynthia Rylant’s “Henry And Mudge And The Great Grandpas”.

Mary Carr "Horton Hears a Who!" was adapted into a computer-animated feature-length film of the same name in 2008.