Dr. Seuss

"Seuss" and "Theo Geisel" redirect here. For the surname, see Seuss (surname). For the physicist, see Theo Geisel (physicist). For other uses, see Suess.

Dr. Seuss
Dr. Seuss in 1957
Dr. Seuss in 1957
BornTheodor Seuss Geisel
(1904-03-02)March 2, 1904
Springfield, Massachusetts, U.S.
DiedSeptember 24, 1991(1991-09-24) (aged 87)
San Diego, California, U.S.
Pen name
  • Theo LeSieg
  • Rosetta Stone
Occupation
Education
GenreChildren's literature
Years active1921–1991[1]
Spouse
​
​
(m. 1927; died 1967)​
​
​
(m. 1968)​
Signature
Dr. Seuss
Website
seussville.com

Theodor Seuss Geisel (/suːs ˈɡaɪzəl, zɔɪs -/ ⓘ sooss GHY-zəl, zoyss -⁠;[2][3][4] March 2, 1904 – September 24, 1991)[5] was an American children's author and cartoonist. He is known for his work writing and illustrating more than 60 books under the pen name Dr. Seuss (/suːs, zuːs/ sooss, zooss).[4][6] His work includes many of the most popular children's books of all time, selling over 600 million copies and being translated into more than 20 languages by the time of his death.[7]

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! (1955), 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).[8] 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.

  1. ^ "The Beginnings of Dr. Seuss". www.dartmouth.edu.
  2. ^ "How to Mispronounce "Dr. Seuss"". February 6, 2013. It is true that the middle name of Theodor Geisel—"Seuss," which was also his mother's maiden name—was pronounced "Zoice" by the family, and by Theodor Geisel himself. So, if you are pronouncing his full given name, saying "Zoice" instead of "Soose" would not be wrong. You'd have to explain the pronunciation to your listener, but you would be pronouncing it as the family did.
  3. ^ "Seuss". Random House Unabridged Dictionary.
  4. ^ a b pronunciation of "Geisel" and "Seuss" in the Webster's Dictionary
  5. ^ "About the Author, Dr. Seuss, Seussville". Timeline. Archived from the original on December 6, 2013. Retrieved February 15, 2012.
  6. ^ "Seuss on New Zealand TV, 1964". March 2, 2016.
  7. ^ Bernstein, Peter W. (1992). "Unforgettable Dr. Seuss". Reader's Digest Australia. Unforgettable. p. 192. ISSN 0034-0375.
  8. ^ "Dr. Seuss". Emmys.com. Retrieved March 6, 2021.