Instituto Superior Goya – English Teacher Training Course – English Literature II
Dr. Seuss’ Biography (1904–1991)
Who Was Dr. Seuss?
Theodor Seuss Geisel, better known by his pen name Dr. Seuss,
was a writer and cartoonist who published over 60 books. He
published his first children's book, And to Think That I Saw It on
Mulberry Street, under the name of Dr. Seuss in 1937.
Next came a string of bestsellers, including The Cat in the Hat and
Green Eggs and Ham. His rhymes and characters are beloved by
generations of fans.
Family, Early Life & Education
Geisel was born on March 2, 1904, in Springfield, Massachusetts. His father, Theodor Robert Geisel,
was a successful brewmaster; his mother was Henrietta Seuss Geisel. At age 18, Geisel left home to
attend Dartmouth College, where he became the editor in chief of its humor magazine, Jack-O-
Lantern. When Geisel and his friends were caught drinking in his dorm room one night, in violation
of Prohibition law, he was kicked off the magazine staff, but continued to contribute to it using the
pseudonym "Seuss." After graduating from Dartmouth, Geisel attended the University of Oxford in
England, with plans to eventually become a professor. In 1927, he dropped out of Oxford.
Early Career as a Cartoonist
Upon returning to America, Geisel decided to pursue
cartooning full-time. His articles and illustrations were
published in numerous magazines, including LIFE and
Vanity Fair. A cartoon that he published in the July 1927
issue of The Saturday Evening Post, his first using the
pen name "Seuss," landed him a staff position at the
New York weekly Judge.
Geisel next worked for Standard Oil in the advertising department, where he spent the next 15 years.
His ad for Flit, a popular insecticide, became nationally famous. Around this time, Viking Press offered
Geisel a contract to illustrate a children's collection called Boners. The book sold poorly, but it gave
him a break into children's literature. At the start of World War II, Geisel began contributing weekly
political cartoons to the liberal publication PM Magazine. In 1942, too old for the World War II draft,
Geisel served with Frank Capra's Signal Corps, making animated training films and drawing
propaganda posters for the Treasury Department and the War Production Board.
Books by Dr. Seuss
Over the course of his career, Geisel published more than 60 books. Some of his more well-known
works include:
Dr. Seuss’ First Book
His first book, And to Think That I Saw It on Mulberry Street, was rejected 27 times before it
was finally published by Vanguard Press in 1937.
Prof. Lic. Griselda Mazzuchini
Instituto Superior Goya – English Teacher Training Course – English Literature II
'The Cat in the Hat' (1957)
A major turning point in Geisel's career came when, in response to a 1954 LIFE magazine
article that criticized children's reading levels, Houghton Mifflin
and Random House asked him to write a children's primer using
220 vocabulary words. The resulting book, The Cat in the Hat, was
published in 1957 and was described by one critic as a "tour de
force." The success of The Cat in the Hat cemented Geisel's place
in children's literature.
'How the Grinch Stole Christmas' (1957)
“Every Who down in Who-ville liked Christmas a lot . . . but the Grinch, who lived
just north of Who-ville, did NOT!” For 53 years, the Grinch has lived in a cave on
the side of the mountain. This tale, where citizens of Who-ville warm the Grinch
to the spirit of Christmas, encourages young readers to do their own good
deeds. The book was successful in the 1950s and 1960s but became an instant
holiday classic when it was released in 1966 as a made-for-TV cartoon special
featuring the voice of Boris Karloff.
'Green Eggs and Ham' (1960)
“Do you like green eggs and ham?” Readers follow Sam-I-Am as he adds (and
adds) to the list of places to enjoy green eggs and ham and the friends to enjoy
them with. The book is written for early readers, with simple words, rhymes
and lots of illustrations.
'One Fish Two Fish Red Fish Blue Fish' (1960)
"Did you ever fly a kite in bed? Did you ever walk with ten cats on your head?" Another
of Geisel's simple rhyming plots about a boy and a girl and their adventures with their colorful
cast of friends and pets, like Gox to the winking Yink who drinks pink ink.
'Horton Hears a Who!' (1962)
In 1962 Geisel published this comic classic, which teaches kindness and
perseverance from Horton the elephant, features the famous line “a
person’s a person, no matter how small.”
'Fox in Socks' (1965)
In this silly book, Fox in Socks teaches Knox in a box hilarious tongue-twisters that are best
read aloud, like “Socks on chicks and chicks on fox. Fox on clocks on bricks and blocks. Bricks
and blocks on Knox on box.”
'The Lorax' (1971)
"UNLESS someone like you...cares a whole awful lot...nothing is going to
get better...It's not." In this book, Geisel warns of the dangers of
mistreating the environment before environmentalism was a trend. The
cautionary tale teaches young readers about the beauty of the natural
world and their duty to protect it.
Prof. Lic. Griselda Mazzuchini
Instituto Superior Goya – English Teacher Training Course – English Literature II
'Oh, the Places You’ll Go!' (1990)
Published in 1990, the year before Geisel's death, this book is the classic sendoff for kids of
all ages, from kindergarteners to college students. Dr. Seuss teaches readers that success is
within you, illustrating life’s inevitable highs and lows.
Dr. Seuss' Wife
While studying at Oxford, Geisel met his future wife, Helen Palmer. The couple married in 1927 and
moved back to the United States the same year. In October 1967, Palmer, who was suffering from
both cancer and the emotional pain caused by an affair Geisel had with their longtime friend Audrey
Stone Dimond, committed suicide. Geisel married Dimond, a film producer, the following year.
Dimond is known for her work on the films The Lorax (2012), Horton Hears a Who! (2008) and Daisy-
Head Mayzie (1995). Geisel never had any children of his own.
Death
Geisel died on September 24, 1991, at the age of 87, in La Jolla, California.
In 1997, the Art of Dr. Seuss collection was launched. Today, limited-edition prints and sculptures of
Geisel's artworks can be found at galleries alongside the works of Rembrandt, Pablo Picasso and Joan
Miró. Sixteen of his books are on Publishers Weekly's list of the "100 Top-Selling Hardcover Children's
Books of All-Time." In 2015, Random House Children’s Books posthumously published a new Dr.
Seuss book, titled What Pet Should I Get?, after the manuscript and sketches were found by the
author’s widow in the couple’s home.
Prof. Lic. Griselda Mazzuchini
Instituto Superior Goya – English Teacher Training Course – English Literature II
The Cat in the Hat
It is a rainy day. Sally and Sam are brother and sister who are alone and bored in their house. Suddenly…
…a black and white cat, with a large hat, appears. The two kids are surprised and their pet,
an orange fish, feels angry.
The cat feels sad because the little fish tells him to go out but, the cat decides to stay
because he says that someone steals him something.
The cat plays the piano and sings a beautiful song to make the fish sleep.
Then, when the fish sleeps, the cat shows the kids a magic box where ‘Thing 1’ and ‘Thing
2’ appear to help him in the search.
The house is disorder and untidy. ‘Thing 1’ and ‘Thing 2’ touch everything around them. They play with the fish
bowl and the fish feels furious.
The cat continues singing and playing with the kids while ‘Thing 1’ and ‘Thing 2’ walk
around the house making a mess in each room.
They hear their mother’s car, the kids and the fish are surprised and the cat goes out.
Sally and Sam do not know what to do with the disorder. Immediately, the cat appears
with a big clear machine. He helps them to clean and order the house.
When the mother arrives, she tells the kids that she saw a cat in a hat walking on the
street but the two kids and the fish are like if they have never seen that crazy cat that
made they have fun all the time.
Horton hears a Who!
It was 15th of May in those time, while Horton the kindness elephant is playing on a puddle.
Suddenly, he hears a small noise. It is a little particle that passes in front his face. At first,
he doesn´t pay a lot of attention but he decides to follow the sound that comes out from
this tiny speck and he rescues. The animal puts the particle on a clover in order not to be
destroyed because he thinks that there are people who live inside.
Nevertheless, there is a kangaroo who doesn´t think in the same way as Horton. She says
that: “if we can´t see it or hear it, it doesn´t exist”. Mrs Kangaroo threats the elephant
because she wants the particle to destroy it. She considers that Horton is crazy and fool and she thinks that his
ideas encourage children to use their imagination, she believes that this kind of thoughts will affect the
harmony of the jungle.
Consequently, Horton talks with the Major of the town and explains him the situation in the jungle. As a result,
the Major asks Horton for help. He says to the animal that his village needs a safe place to stay because all the
movements gradually destroy and change the stability of his world. For that reason, the animal starts a
dangerous travel in the jungle, because he considers that the top of the Nool Mountain is the place where Who-
ville would be safe.
Unfortunately, along Horton's travel a black eagle called Vlad appears and follows the
elephant because he wants to obtain the particle and destroyed it. Vlad carries the clover
with him and let it fall in a field full of clovers. This situation affects Who-ville because the
town impacts on the field and many houses were destroyed. Horton runs quickly to see for
his friend, he takes out many clovers from the field and talks with them but he doesn´t find
the correct clover.
Prof. Lic. Griselda Mazzuchini
Instituto Superior Goya – English Teacher Training Course – English Literature II
Unexpectedly, the wind blows all the clovers and they start to float up on the ground. In this moment, the
animal sees the speck in the clover and takes it down. He is happy to find it and to hear that all the people in
the town are okay but a bird sees that Horton continues talking with the particle therefore she flies away to
the jungle to talk with Mrs Kangaroo.
The kangaroo becomes crazy when she heard that Horton rescue the particle again, so she manipulates all the
animals in the jungle and forces them to capture the elephant. The animals tie Horton and put him on a cage.
Mrs Kangaroo takes the clover and tries to destroy it by throwing it on a pot full of sunflower oil. Fortunately,
her little son hears a sound that comes out from the speck, he takes the clover from his mother and gives to
Horton.
At the end, Mrs Kangaroo and all the animals in the jungle apologize Horton and walk with him to the top of
the Nool Mountain to leave the particle there.
How the Grinch stole Christmas!
Every Who down in Who-ville liked Christmas a lot, but the Grinch didn´t like it. No one knows
the reason, but I think the most likely reason of all may have been that his heart was two
sizes too small.
He knew that all the Who girls and boys would wake and would rush for their toys and then
the noise. He hated the NOISE!
Then the Whos would sit down to a feast and they would feast which was something that the
Grinch could not stand in the least.
After that the Whos would sing and sing. The more that the Grinch thought of the Christmas-Sing, the more
the Grinch thought, “I must stop this whole thing. I must stop this Christmas from coming!
The he got an idea, an awful idea!: “I know just what to do!. He made a quick Santa Claus hat and a coat, he
tied a big horn on the top of his dog´s head and he went towards the Whos.
All the Whos were dreaming when he came to the firs house and he climbed to the roof, empty bags in his fist.
Then he slid down the chimmey.
The Grinch grabbed the tree, and when he was trying to push it, He suddenly heard a small sound (like the coo
of a dove). Looking around, He saw a small "Who". She was not more than 2. The Grinch
has been caught by this tiny who..! The problem was that she has thought that Grinch
was Santa Claus, so she asked him: "Santa Claus, why are you taking our Christmas
tree? Why?" The "Fake Santa Claus said that he was going to fix some lights from it. He
also promised to bring it back. He run away taking all the presents and Christmas
things: wrappings, tags, ribbons, tinsels, trimmings...
Grinch did hear a sound rising over the snow, but it wasn´t sad! It sounded merry! Every
who was singing, without any presents at all. He noticed that he wasn´t able to stop
Christmas. And what happened then..?
Well, in the Whoville they say that the Grinch´s small heart grew 3 sizes that day!!! He brought back the toys
and the food for the feast! He finally shared this beautiful celebration with the Whos. And that day he learnt
that the important things to have in Christmas are not the material ones, such as food and presents. To have a
nice Christmas, being with your loved ones is enough"
Prof. Lic. Griselda Mazzuchini
