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"Seuss" is a German name. It is pronounced zoice in Germany and zoos in America.
Did you see the film "How the Grinch Stole Christmas?" Or perhaps - if you're lucky- you read the book!
This is a story of the man who wrote that book.
When he was born they named him Theodor Seuss Geisel
This was in 1904 By the time he died he was called Dr. Seuss
This was in 1991
If Dr. Seuss were alive today, he'd be 99 years old!
Dr. Seuss became famous for writing books that kids found fun to read and adults felt were good for kids!
The story hasn't changed even today. No wonder he is called a genius. His books were made into films and he won the Pulitzer prize and Academy awards.
As a Child
When he was a child, everyone called him Ted. Ted's mom would sing him to sleep with rhymes from her childhood
And he repaid the compliment by becoming a "master rhymer"As a child, he lived in Springfield, Massachusetts, and he shows us this town in many of his books - specially the vehicles manufactured there!
He was not great at sports, but was friendly and told great stories at school.
What really made kids laugh was when he wiggled his ears! That's when they had "ear-wiggling" contests!
Where is Ted in his books?
In his first book, And to Think That I Saw it On Mulberry Street, Dr. Seuss wrote about a little boy Marco who had a great imagination just like he did!
His life in his characters
Horton the Elephant wanders around streams in the Jungle of Nool
Ted wandered around the lakes and streams at the Springfield Forest Park
Sylvester McMonkey McBean drives a fanciful truck in The Sneetches
Ted saw the Knox tractor on the streets of Springfield
Ted's first children's book, And To Think That I Saw It On Mulberry Street has police officers riding red motorcycles
This was the traditional color of Springfield's famed Indian Motorcycles.
As a child he often visited the Forest Park Zoo where his father worked, and loved to draw pictures of the animals- but maybe with three ears instead of two!
Even in childhood, Ted showed his love for words by his writing. In high school, he was the editor of the school paper. He often called himself by the pseudonym Dr. Seuss. Sometimes he used T.S. LeSieg [his last name spelt backward].
"And then just to show them, I'll sail to Ka-Troo
And Bring Back an It-Kutch a Preep and a Proo a Nerkle a Nerd and a Seersucker, too!"
Ted Geisel's art teacher told him: You'll never make a career in art!
That's because the teacher wanted him to draw things as they are, and he wanted to draw them as he saw them- imaginatively!
© Meenakshi Suri
