so, i just had to recognize the birth (march 2nd) of a brilliant man & one of my all time faves…dr. seuss! as long as i can remember this author has made me giggle with his silly rhymes & zany characters. did anyone else make actual “green eggs & ham” in kindergarten? i did. some of the first books that i learned to read were by the good dr. & who can forget every christmas watching, as boris karloff (yes, "frankenstein") narrated, how the grinch stole christmas! the ‘grinch’ kind of scared me when i was little…until, of course, “his heart grew three sizes.” (it’s still a traditional must see for me…every single year!)
as i grew away from childlike books, babies, & toys, i never forgot dr. seuss. actually, i began to appreciate him more; you see, he’s a genius! it’s true. i’ve enjoyed him as a listener, a reader, a student, a creator, & a writer.
here are some interesting things that i’ve learned along the way.
theodor seuss geisel (1904-1991) was born in springfield, massachusetts. he experienced world wars & a great depression. he worked in advertising as an illustrator & was a cartoonist for political cartoons. he attended both dartmouth & oxford, but never obtained a degree. he began to sign works as seuss early on & added dr. later. seuss (actually pronounced zoice, of german origin…rhymes with voice) was mispronounced from the get go, so he decided to switch to the more anglical (english language friendly) pronunciation. plus, he felt that it “evoked a figure advantageous for an author of childrens’ books to be associated with mother goose.”
when he wrote his first children’s book, and to think that i saw it on mulberry street (evolved from a poem inspired by “the rhythm of the ship’s engines” on an ocean voyage), it was rejected like some 27 times. now, i had initially heard somewhere that it was 19 times, but as i have researched, the numbers vary. but still…how many times would you or i have to hear the word “no” before throwing in the towel? i hope that i would have that drive, but i don’t know. thank goodness, he kept on keeping on! i mean, could you imagine a literary world without him. not to mention the infinite number of folks that did, do, & will find great joy from his legacy.
he wrote over 60 books (46 published children's books) throughout his career; as dr. seuss & for some, used the pseudonym, theo lesieg (geisel spelled backwards) for the books that he wrote, but did not illustrate. his stories (as anti-serious as they seem) almost always have a moral, & were quite avant-garde in respect to social & political issues that still affect us today. (i’m serious!)& can i just mention those wonderful quotes?
“fun is good.”
“be who you are and say what you feel, because those who mind don't matter and those who matter don't mind.”“don’t cry because it’s over. smile because it happened.”
“unless someone like you cares a whole awful lot, nothing is going to get better. it's not.”
“why fit in when you were born to stand out?”
“today is your day! the mountain is waiting. so…get on your way.”
“and will you succeed? yes, indeed! yes, indeed! ninety-eight and three-quarters percent guaranteed!”*just a side note, yours truly will be reading the most fantastic hooray for diffendoofer day! to a class of 2nd graders tomorrow morning in honor of "read across america day!" because after all, "you're never too old, too wacky, too wild, to pick up a book & read to a child!"
1 comments:
Thanks for the background on this most wonderful writer! Fiona is almost old enough to be hearing these books read to her as bedtime stories.
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