Dr. Seuss
The beloved children's author and illustrator behind Dr. Seuss, whose whimsical books have sold over 600 million copies worldwide.
Theodor Seuss Geisel (March 2, 1904 – September 24, 1991) was an American writer, artist, and animator best known for his children's books. Working under the pen name Dr. Seuss, he wrote and illustrated over 60 titles that rank among the most popular children's books ever. By the time he died, his works had sold more than 600 million copies and been translated into over 20 languages.
Geisel first used the name "Dr. Seuss" as an undergraduate at Dartmouth College and later as a graduate student at Oxford University's Lincoln College. He left Oxford in 1927 to start a career as an illustrator and cartoonist for magazines like Vanity Fair and Life, and also created ads for Flit and Standard Oil. He drew political cartoons for the New York newspaper PM. His first children's book, *And to Think That I Saw It on Mulberry Street*, came out in 1937. During World War II, he paused writing for children to produce political cartoons and worked in the U.S. Army's animation and film unit.
After the war, Geisel returned to children's literature, producing celebrated books such as *If I Ran the Zoo* (1950), *Horton Hears a Who!* (1954), *The Cat in the Hat* (1957), *How the Grinch Stole Christmas!* (1957), *Green Eggs and Ham* (1960), *One Fish, Two Fish, Red Fish, Blue Fish* (1960), *The Sneetches and Other Stories* (1961), *The Lorax* (1971), *The Butter Battle Book* (1984), and *Oh, the Places You'll Go!* (1990). Over his career, he published more than 60 books, which led to numerous adaptations including eleven TV specials, five feature films, a Broadway musical, and four TV series.
He won two Primetime Emmy Awards: one for Outstanding Children's Special for *Halloween Is Grinch Night* (1978) and another for Outstanding Animated Program for *The Grinch Grinches the Cat in the Hat* (1982). In 1984, he received a Pulitzer Prize Special Citation. His birthday, March 2, is now celebrated as National Read Across America Day, a reading initiative started by the National Education Association.
**Life and career**
**Early years**
Geisel was born and raised in Springfield, Massachusetts, to Theodor Robert Geisel and Henrietta Geisel. His father managed the family brewery until Prohibition shut it down, then was appointed by Mayor John A. Denison to oversee Springfield's public parks. Mulberry Street, featured in Geisel's first children's book, is near his childhood home on Fairfield Street. The family was of German descent, and Geisel and his sister Marnie faced anti-German prejudice from other children after World War I began in 1914. He was raised as a Missouri Synod Lutheran and remained in that denomination his whole life.
Geisel attended Dartmouth College, graduating in 1925. There, he joined the Sigma Phi Epsilon fraternity and worked on the humor magazine *Dartmouth Jack-O-Lantern*, eventually becoming editor-in-chief. While at Dartmouth, he was caught drinking gin with nine friends in his room—illegal under Prohibition, which lasted from 1920 to 1933. As punishment, Dean Craven Laycock forced Geisel to resign from all extracurricular activities, including the magazine. To keep working on it secretly, he began signing his work with the pen name "Seuss." Professor of rhetoric W. Benfield Pressey encouraged his writing, and Geisel later called him his "big inspiration for writing" at Dartmouth.
After graduating, he entered Lincoln College, Oxford, to pursue a Ph.D. in English literature. There, he met his future wife, Helen Palmer, who urged him to abandon teaching English and instead focus on drawing. She later recalled that his notebooks were full of "fabulous animals," and she convinced him he should earn a living drawing them.
**Early career**
Geisel left Oxford without a degree and returned to the United States in February 1927. He immediately began submitting work to magazines, book publishers, and ad agencies. He pitched a series called *Eminent Europeans* to *Life* magazine, but it was rejected. His first nationally published cartoon appeared in the July 16, 1927, issue of *The Saturday Evening Post*, earning him $25. That sale prompted him to move from Springfield to New York City. Later that year, he took a job as writer and illustrator at the humor magazine *Judge*, and he felt financially secure enough to marry Palmer. His first cartoon for *Judge* ran on October 22, 1927, and the couple married on November 29. About six months after starting at *Judge*, his first work signed "Dr. Seuss" appeared.
In early 1928, one of his *Judge* cartoons mentioned Flit, a bug spray made by Standard Oil of New Jersey. According to Geisel, the wife of the ad executive handling Flit saw the cartoon at a hairdresser's and urged her husband to hire him. His first Flit ad ran on May 31, 1928, and the campaign continued on and off until 1941. The slogan "Quick, Henry, the Flit!" became a pop culture catchphrase, inspiring a song and jokes by comedians like Fred Allen and Jack Benny. As Geisel's fame from the Flit campaign grew, his work appeared regularly in magazines such as *Life* and *Liberty*.
- born
- March 2, 1904
- died
- September 24, 1991
- field
- Children's author, illustrator, animator, cartoonist
- nationality
- American
- known_for
- Writing and illustrating over 60 books under the pen name Dr. Seuss
Lore & Background
Geisel adopted the name 'Dr. Seuss' as an undergraduate at Dartmouth College and as a graduate student at Lincoln College, Oxford. He left Oxford in 1927 to begin his career as an illustrator and cartoonist for Vanity Fair, Life, and various other publications. He also worked as an illustrator for advertising campaigns, including for Flit and Standard Oil, and as a political cartoonist for the New York newspaper PM. He published his first children's book And to Think That I Saw It on Mulberry Street in 1937. During World War II, he took a brief hiatus from children's literature to illustrate political cartoons, and he worked in the animation and film department of the United States Army. After the war, Geisel returned to writing children's books, writing acclaimed works such as If I Ran the Zoo (1950), Horton Hears a Who! (1954), The Cat in the Hat (1957), How the Grinch Stole Christmas! (1957), Green Eggs and Ham (1960), One Fish, Two Fish, Red Fish, Blue Fish (1960), The Sneetches and Other Stories (1961), The Lorax (1971), The Butter Battle Book (1984), and Oh, the Places You'll Go! (1990). He published over 60 books during his career, which have spawned numerous adaptations, including eleven television specials, five feature films, a Broadway musical, and four television series. He received two Primetime Emmy Awards for Outstanding Children's Special for Halloween Is Grinch Night (1978) and Outstanding Animated Program for The Grinch Grinches the Cat in the Hat (1982). In 1984, he won a Pulitzer Prize Special Citation. His birthday, March 2, has been adopted as the annual date for National Read Across America Day, an initiative focused on reading created by the National Education Association.
Reader's Guide
Geisel was born and raised in Springfield, Massachusetts, the son of Theodor Robert Geisel and Henrietta Geisel (née Seuss). His father managed the family brewery and was later appointed to supervise Springfield's public park system by Mayor John A. Denison after the brewery closed because of Prohibition. Mulberry Street in Springfield, made famous in his first children's book And to Think That I Saw It on Mulberry Street, is near his boyhood home on Fairfield Street. The family was of German descent, and Geisel and his sister Marnie experienced anti-German prejudice from other children following the outbreak of World War I in 1914. Geisel was raised as a Missouri Synod Lutheran and remained in the denomination his entire life. Geisel was educated at Dartmouth College, graduating in 1925. At Dartmouth, he joined the Sigma Phi Epsilon fraternity and the humor magazine Dartmouth Jack-O-Lantern, eventually rising to the rank of editor-in-chief. While at Dartmouth, he was caught drinking gin with nine friends in his room. At the time, the possession and consumption of alcohol was illegal under Prohibition laws, which remained in place between 1920 and 1933. As a result of this infraction, Dean Craven Laycock insisted that Geisel resign from all extracurricular activities, including the Jack-O-Lantern. To continue working on the magazine without the administration's knowledge, Geisel began signing his work with the pen name 'Seuss'. He was encouraged in his writing by professor of rhetoric W. Benfield Pressey, whom he described as his 'big inspiration for writing' at Dartmouth. Upon graduating from Dartmouth, he entered Lincoln College, Oxford, intending to earn a Doctor of Philosophy (D.Phil.) in English literature. At Oxford, he met his future wife Helen Palmer, who encouraged him to give up becoming an English teacher in favor of pursuing drawing as a career. She later recalled that 'Ted's notebooks were always filled with these fabulous animals. So I set to work diverting him; here was a man who could draw such pictures; he should be earning a living doing that.' Geisel left Oxford without earning a degree and returned to the United States in February 1927, where he immediately began submitting writings and drawings to magazines, book publishers, and advertising agencies. Making use of his time in Europe, he pitched a series of cartoons called Eminent Europea
Did You Know?
- Geisel received two Primetime Emmy Awards: one for Outstanding Children's Special for Halloween Is Grinch Night (1978) and one for Outstanding Animated Program for The Grinch Grinches the Cat in the Hat (1982).
- His birthday, March 2, has been adopted as the annual date for National Read Across America Day.
- Geisel's first children's book, And to Think That I Saw It on Mulberry Street, was rejected by between 20 and 43 publishers before being published.
Notable Quotes (Wikiquote)
"... and the wolf chewed up the children and spit out their bones ... But those were Foreign Children and it really didn't matter ..." — Dr. Seuss "When at last we are sureYou've been properly pilled,Then a few paper formsMust be properly filledSo that you and your heirsMay be properly billed." — Dr. Seuss "You can get help from teachers, but you are going to have to learn a lot by yourself, sitting alone in a room." — Dr. Seuss "Adults are just obsolete children and the hell with them." — Dr. Seuss
More in Notable Figures
Elsewhere in the Historical Figures universe
Spotted an error? Know more?
This is a living reference — every entry is fact-audited, and reader corrections feed straight into our audit queue. Suggest an edit · See this site's audit record