Dr Seuss - Illustrator, Author, Teacher of Children

“Think left and think right and think low and think high. Oh, the thinks you can think up if only you try!”

A Plethora of Fish - The Art of Dr Seuss

Anyone who has children (and even those who don't) will know right away the creator of the Quote and picture above. Dr Seuss has been entertaining and teaching children to read for years and be honest many parents enjoyed his books just as much (sometimes more) as our children did.

Who Was Dr Seuss:

This creative man was best know of course for his wonderful children's books (forty-four) but where did those books come from - how did it begin. It's always best to start at the beginning and for Theodor Seuss Geisel (Dr Seuss) it began in 1904 on Howard St in Springfield Ma. His father and grandfather were brewmasters in the city and his mother (who he credits for his ability and desire to create the rhymes for which he became so well know) would often soothed her children to sleep by "chanting" rhymes remembered from her youth.

A happy childhood filled with memories of Springfield can be seen throughout his work. One example are drawings of Horton the Elephant strolling along streams in the Jungle of Nool, which mirror the watercourses in Springfield's Forest Park during the period he was growing up. In fact his first children's book "And To Think That I Saw It On Mulberry Street" is filled with Springfield imagery.

After Dark in The Park - The Art of Dr Seuss

After graduating from Dartmouth College he attended Oxford University in England for a short time. He then pursed a career as a cartoonist having his work published in The Saturday Evening Post, Life, Vanity Fair and other magazines. Serving with Frank Capra's Signal Corps (U.S. Army) making training movies is where he was introduced to the art of animation and developed a series of animated training films featuring a trainee called Private Snafu.

Dr Seuss National Museum

"The Cat in the Hat" is considered the defining book in his career and with it's publication he became the definitive children's book author and illustrator. Thus began the odesy of millions of children who not only learned to read but were entertained over and over again by Dr Seuss.

"Oh The Places You'll Go" - The Art of Dr Seuss

Sadly Theodor Seuss Geisel died September 24, 1991 but his legacy continues to live on with the forty-four books he wrote and illustrated - which by the way have been translated into more than 15 different languages. Besides the books, his works have provided the source for eleven children's television specials, a Broadway musical and a feature-length motion picture.

The Art of Dr Seuss

One last note of interest, Dr Seuss also wrote funny and inspiring Quotes. My favorite - “I like nonsense, it wakes up the brain cells. Fantasy is a necessary ingredient in living.”  - never were truer words ever spoken.