the Army in 1943 and moved to Hollywood, California, to make war films. Geisel advanced to the rank of lieutenant colonel and also won Academy Awards in 1946 and 1947 for his war documentaries. Significantly, it was in Hollywood that he learned to edit a story to move the plot along, and this would later help his children’s books.

After the war, Geisel settled in California. In 1951 he had the chance to combine children’s stories with films, and so he wrote the script for a cartoon, Gerald McBoing Boing, which won him another Academy Award. However, it also led to one of Geisel’s greatest failures, the live-action film The 5,000 Fingers of Dr. T. While it was a critical failure when it opened in 1953, in later years it did develop a cult following.

The Cat in the Hat, the book for which Dr. Seuss is probably most well known, was born out of a bet in 1957. A friend of Geisel who published children’s books complained that reading primers were bland and boring. He presented Geisel with a list of 225 words appropriate for young readers and challenged him to write a better book. It took nine months of hard work, but Geisel did it. Published both as a textbook and as a commercial book, The Cat in the Hat was an immediate hit with adults and children alike. The Cat in the Hat taught children that books were not simply colorful objects and that there was a relationship between pictures and words. While the figure of the anarchic cat sparked some criticism, its underlying message was clear: If your world is unsatisfying, change it.

The success of The Cat in the Hat led Geisel’s publisher to develop a special children’s line that focused on fun reading primers. Geisel and his wife were both editors, writers, and executives of the new publishing venture. Geisel had thought about a children’s Christmas book for years, and How the Grinch Stole Christmas! appeared in 1958. It was an indictment of materialism in American culture. The book was adapted for television in 1966 by the animator Chuck Jones. While critics gave the animated version bad reviews, it was a popular success that became a staple of children’s holiday television specials.

Geisel’s success continued to mount during the 1960’s, but it was marred when his most stringent critic and most ardent supporter, his wife Helen, died on October 23, 1967. One year later, Geisel married a friend of the family, Audrey Stone Diamond.

In the 1970’s, Geisel turned his attention to environmental problems with The Lorax (1971), an explicitly political book that grew out of Geisel’s frustration with the destruction of the global environment. In this polemic, Geisel crafted some of his most impassioned and Seussian language to date. Before The Lorax, Geisel had written many editorial cartoons for various causes. Although The Sneetches, in which Geisel addressed themes of racism and discrimination, appeared in 1961, The Lorax was the first of his books to contain an overt political message.

Despite increasing health problems, Geisel continued to develop his publishing and editorial interests throughout the 1970’s. He published children’s books under the name Theo LeSieg (Geisel spelled backwards) when he wrote but did not illustrate the book.

By the 1980’s, Geisel had other political concerns that he expressed through his art and verse. In 1984, he published The Butter Battle Book, which expressed his fears about the Cold War, the nuclear arms race, and the possibilities of nuclear war. While some deplored the subject of nuclear war for children’s books, others praised Geisel for handling a fact of life in the 1980’s in a manner accessible to young people. The Butter Battle Book lacked a clearly defined ending because Geisel felt that in real life, the ending had not been written. The Butter Battle Book quickly climbed to the top of not only juvenile best-seller lists but also the fiction list of The New York Times Book Review.

In April, 1984, Geisel won a Pulitzer Prize in recognition of almost one-half century of contributions to children’s literature. One Pulitzer judge reported that Geisel’s nomination met with virtual unanimity. Geisel had at least one more new book left in him. In 1986, he published You’re Only Old Once: A Book for Obsolete Children. In this book, he was more a memoirist or essayist than a storyteller, for it contained his reflections on aging and the inevitability of decline. It was also a critique of modern medicine and its often costly, invasive, and sometimes pointless treatments. The master of children’s literature had written a book that was as much for parents and grandparents as for children. In 1990, Geisel penned what he regarded as his final book. Entitled Oh, the Places You’ll Go!, its theme was hope; in it, Geisel coined new words and deliberately inserted references to his previous books, including memorable creations such as Horton.

A seven-year-old Dr. Seuss fan once told an interviewer, “When Dr. Seuss dies, that’s going to be some awful day.” That day arrived on September 24, 1991. Theodor Seuss Geisel, the beloved Dr. Seuss, died at age eighty-seven at his home in La Jolla.

Summary

By the time Theodor Seuss Geisel died, he had written forty-eight books that, when combined, had sold more that 200 million copies. Through these books, he spearheaded a movement to make children’s books interesting and entertaining, and to replace the bland treacle of earlier reading primers. Geisel consistently challenged the conventions of children’s literature because he refused to patronize children. He brought messages to challenge readers of all ages to take action in order to solve dire threats to life. His books also encouraged children to notice and celebrate the differences between people and to take special notice of the differences in themselves.

Geisel was not a person who sought celebrity, but by the time of his death, celebrity had found him. He was loved by three generations of children and adults, and continues to be a source of wonder and inspiration to young readers. Geisel taught those generations that the world was limited only by the imagination. Dr. Seuss took his readers to imaginary and faraway lands, and guided them with humor and gentleness to consider the world from all angles.

Bibliography

Geisel, Theodor. The Secret Art of Dr. Seuss, with an Introduction by Maurice Sendak. New York: Random House, 1995. Geisel often painted in oil and watercolor, but only for his own enjoyment. This posthumous collection reveals another side of a complicated person.

MacDonald, Ruth L. Dr. Seuss. Boston: Twayne, 1988. A scholarly analysis of the sort that Geisel had no use for, this book contains in-depth criticism of his work, some biographical information, a chronology, and minor factual errors.

Marschall, Richard, ed. The Tough Coughs as He Ploughs the Dough: Early Writings and Cartoons By Dr. Seuss. New York: Random House, 1987. This book contains much of the hard-to-find early work of Geisel, particularly his cartoons and satirical essays from Judge. While all the Seussian elements are present, these are not children’s cartoons.

Morgan, Judith, and Neil Morgan. Dr. Seuss and Mr. Geisel, A Biography. New York: Da Capo Press, 1995. This definite Geisel biography is based on extensive interviews and archival and manuscript material. Although it is scholarly, it is accessible and fun to read.

Preciado, Kathleen, and Letitia O’Connor. Dr. Seuss from Then to Now: A Catalogue of the Retrospective Exhibition Organized by the San Diego Museum of Art. New York: Random House, 1986. This book contains many cartoons not included in other works and discusses Geisel’s little-known The Seven Lady Godivas (1939). While not analytical, it provides a good overview of his work from 1937 to 1986.

Weidt, Maryann N. Oh, the Places He Went: A Story About Dr. Seuss. Minneapolis: Carolrhoda Books, 1994. Although primarily aimed at younger readers, this short and highly accessible biography contains a comprehensive overview of Geisel’s life and work.