Dr. Seuss

1. Dr. Seuss Ms. Catalano

2. Career • During his college years, Dr. Seuss was the editor the Jack-O-Lantern which was the school humor magazine. In 1928 he used the name Dr. Seuss for the first time. • While studying at Oxford he spent much time doodling in his notebooks. After graduating he returned to the United States to pursue his drawing career. • In 1928 he began to create advertisements. He created advertisements for 30 years. His first book for children was published in 1937. It was titled, I saw it on Mulberry Street. • He was rejected by many publishers before finally being signed to Vanguard Press. • Dr. Seuss wrote during the time of World War II and began to create political cartoons. He used his poetry and books for children to express his feelings against his oppressed country.

3. List works by the Author • •The 500 Hats of Bartholomew Cubbins • •And To Think That I Saw It On Mulberry Street • •Bartholomew and the Oobleck • •The Butter Battle Book • •The Cat in the Hat Songbook • •Daisy-Head Mayzie • •Did I Ever Tell You How Lucky You Are? • •Dr. Seuss’s Sleep Book • •Gerald McBoing Boing • •Horton Hatches the Egg • •Horton Hears A Who! • •How the Grinch Stole Christmas • •Hunches in Bunches • •I Can Lick 30 Tigers Today! and Other Stories • •I Had Trouble in Getting to Solla Sollew • •If I Ran the Circus • •If I Ran the Zoo • •The King’s Stilts • •The Lorax • •McElligot’s Pool • •My Book About Me • •Oh, the Places You’ll Go! • •On Beyond Zebra! • •Scrambled Eggs Super! • •The Sneetches and Other Stories • •Thidwick the Big-Hearted Moose • •Yertle the Turtle and Other Stories

4. Biographical Information • Dr. Seuss was born Theodore Seuss Geisel on March 2, 1904 in Springfield, Massachusetts. • Seuss is a Bavarian name pronounced Zoice. His parents immigrated from Bavaria in the early 19th century. • He decided to use the name Seuss after being busted in college violating the laws of prohibition. At the time he was the editor of the college magazine where he published humorous articles. He was prohibited from writing in the magazine so from this point on he used the name Seuss when signing his work. • He attended Dartmouth college then began studying at Oxford. • At Oxford he met his wife, Helen Palmer. • In 1968 he married Audrey Stone. For the first time he became a father to Audrey’s two children.

5. Quote “You've got brains in your head and feet in your shoes. You can steer yourself any direction you choose.” Dr. Seuss Dr. Seuss has many quotes that are taken from his books that can be applied to everyday life. Dr. Seuss did not write with children as his audience but for everyone to be able to read his work. Many of his quotes are lyrical and rhyme because at the time the literacy rate was very low. He used a controlled vocabulary to help boost reading. This quote is inspirational and shows that people are in control of their own destiny and are able to decide what happens to them whether it be good or bad.

6. Choose one work • Dr. Seuss wrote The Cat in the Hat because he was afraid that children were not learning to read. He was given a challenge to write a book that a first grader would not be able to stop reading. The book would only be able to contain 225 different words from an existing list. In an interview he said that a cat inspired the story behind the book.

7. Author to Text Connection • Dr. Seuss wrote during World War II. Many of his cartoons and political drawings poked fun at the axis powers. He criticized leaders such as Hitler and Mussolini. When he was younger he was teased by his classmates because they felt that he looked German. When he began writing he wanted to influence those who had been discriminating others. His book Yertle the Turtle was inspired by Hitler and the rise of the Nazi party. Sneeches was inspired by anti-Semitism in Europe.

8. Success and Influence • Dr. Seuss is one of the very few writers to have a statue created from his likeness. There is bronze statue at the Dr. Seuss National Memorial Sculpture Garden in Springfield, Massachusetts. • His books changed the way that people think and imagine. In an interview he stated that he did not write for children, he wrote for people. • The book, The Lorax contains a fictional character that has real enemies. Many schools tried to have the book banned from their libraries. The book appears on the ALA list of challenged and banned books.

9. Obstacles/Adversity • Dr. Seuss faced many obstacles and adversity because of the time period that he was writing. During the time of World War II many people felt oppressed and were treated unfairly. He wrote with deeper messages and tried to protect minorities. He felt oppression when he was rejected his college fraternities because it was thought that he looked Jewish. This discrimination helped Dr. Seuss become the writer and poet that he would be.

10. Bibliography • http://www.seussville.com/#/author • http://www.seussville.com/#/books • http://www.seussdude.com/ • http://www.searchquotes.com/quotes/author/Dr_Seuss/