|
Dr. Seuss
| To see current stock of Dr. Seuss Books
Click Here |
|
| |
|
| For me, my favourite books
as a child (and, indeed, as an adult) are those by Dr. Seuss.
How many of us have failed to be enchanted by the Cat in
the Hat or Yertle the Turtle?
Into a world of Crayola crayons, Dr. Seuss introduced an
adventure of rhyme and image with the power to alleviate
our boredom, challenge our imaginations, and even shape
our young lives.
More than one hundred million Dr. Seuss books have been
purchased by parents, grandparents, and children. Green
Eggs and Ham is the third largest selling book in the English
language. Ever. The Butter Battle Books, supposedly for
children, set a world record by appearing for six months
on the New York Times adult best-seller list. Dr. Seuss
is definitely a house-hold name, but who was he? |
|
|
Born in Springfield, Massachusetts, in 1904, he was known
as Theodor Geisel until he became involved in a minor infraction
of the rules while attending Dartmouth College. To maintain
his post as editor-in-chief of the college humour magazine,
under the watchful eye of the dean, he began to sign his
works with his middle name, Seuss. The title of doctor came
later, after he dropped out of Oxford University. Not wanting
to disappoint his father by arriving home without a doctorate,
he simply annexed Dr. to his middle name - the name Dr.
Seuss has been used by Theodor Geisel ever since. Dr. Seuss
also used the anagram Theo. LeSieg for books such as "Would
You Rather be a Bullfrog?" although these books are
considered less desirable to collectors than Dr. Seuss titles.
|
|
Dr. Seuss claimed to be a self-taught artist and had a drawing
lesson once. When he turned his paper upside down to study
the composition, the teacher walked by and said, "Ted,
real artists don't turn their paper upside down." He
never returned to the class.
A visit to Dr. Seuss's studio was an instructive experience.
He used to work in his home atop Mount Soledad, reached
only by a narrow, winding road that has been under repair
for "about a year." |
 |
| |
The view is breathtaking and so are the curves, which could
easily be found in the world of Seuss books. Some nearby trees
are eucalyptus, while others are straight out of the pages
of Solla Sollew. In fact, it's easy to imagine that everything
in this remote world inspired a book; or the influence of
the books is so pervasive that our perceptions of the real
world are altered by them. "Good afternoon," says
Dr. Seuss, appearing at the gate. "Don't trip over the
cat. Its name is Thing One." |
|
Dr. Seuss sadly died 24 September 1991.
Biographical information extracted from 'Dr. Seuss from
Then to Now'
Contributed by Sonia Bryant
|
|
