DR. SEUSS: REMINDING THE KID IN US ALL THAT READING IS FUN
In May 1954, Life magazine published a report on illiteracy among school children in America. The conclusion was that children were not learning to read because their books were boring. See Dick Run. See Spot Sit. Zzzzzz.
A publisher at Houghton Mifflin, William Spaulding, challenged one of his writers to make a book using only 250 words, which he provided. Nine months later, the writer, Theodor Seuss Geisel, turned in an illustrated tour de force called The Cat in the Hat, using only 220 of the words.
The world has never been the same, for kids or for their parents and teachers.
Theodor Seuss Geisel, born in Springfield Massachusetts in 1904, had an unremarkable childhood. A quiet kid, he kept to himself and avoided the spotlight. But beneath the quiet exterior was a colossal imagination and wicked sense of humor.
It began to blossom at Dartmouth College, where he wrote humorous stories and created cartoons for the university magazine. Busted for holding a drinking party (during Prohibition), he was forbidden to write for the magazine, so he created a pseudonym from his middle name – Seuss (supposed to be pronounced like “voice” not like “juice”) – and contributed under that name.
With a unique style and unforgettable drawings, he was published in Vanity Fair, Life, and many other world class
publications. He moved on to Oxford to get a doctorate in Literature, but opportunities in the world of Advertising beckoned and he dropped out of school. Regretting that he would never earn the doctorate his father so wished him to have, he added “Dr.” to the front of his pen name. And an icon was born.
It was on an ocean liner in 1937 that the good doctor, still an advertising writer, was hypnotized by the rhythm of the ship’s engines. He crafted his first imaginary tale about a boy on a street in hometown Springfield. The street was named “Mulberry”. The tale, of course: And to Think that I Saw it on Mulberry Street.
Using several types of rhyming pentameter and irresistible illustrations, the childless Dr. Seuss had created the first of what would be ageless gift to readers young and old.
In Mulberry Street, Geisel had tapped into a whole new style. It unleashed a torrent of the imagination, and over the next 54 years he wrote and illustrated 43 other books, which are staples in tens of millions of homes and community libraries.
Featuring characters and words we had never seen or pronounced before, the books took us on journeys heretofore never conceived - incredible journeys to far away places with creatures and people from the remote reaches of our imagination.
Horton and his egg and his Who; McElligot’s fishing pool; McGrew and his zoo; Bartholomew and his Oobleck; the Grinch; the Fox; Mr. Brown; the Lorax; the Sneetches; the Pop on which you can Hop; and, of course, the Cat with his fish and his Things One and Two. All had their own personalities, but were brought to life with Ted’s unique drawing and poetic genius.
And not to be outdone by the 220 word The Cat in the Hat, his friend Bennet Cerf challenged him in 1960 to write a book with only 50 Grade 1 words, 49 of which were one syllable. The result: the incredible Green Eggs and Ham.
Like The Cat in the Hat, Green Eggs and Ham paved a new way for children to learn to read. The rhyming pentameter gave the books an enjoyable flow, and the rhymes and illustrations gave cues to what the words were, making learning easier and more enjoyable than the traditional “See Dick Run, See Spot Sit” which was the typical children’s’ fare at the time.
Geisel was a genius. But more, he was a master craftsman. He labored unceasingly with a manual typewriter, watercolors, pen and ink. Cutting and pasting (with scissors and tape) he would craft his rhymes over and over and over until they were just right and rolled off the tongue. He then brought the stories to life with wondrous scenes that pushed the limits of visual storytelling.
Underlying it all was a deep morality. Every Seuss story had a message:
- Responsibility for the house and telling the truth with the Cat
- Horton’s famous “I meant what I said and I said what I meant. An elephant’s faithful 100 percent”
- His obvious attack on Hitler in Yertle the Turtle
- The Grinch being touched and changed by Cindy-Lou
- The powerful protest against “growth at all cost”
business and the importance of
protecting the environment of the Lorax
- The incredible take on segregation and racism in 1961 with the Skeetches
- and on and on.
Like all great teachers and storytellers, his stories are easy to digest and neither preach nor condescend. They give the reader credit for intelligence, and inspire them to work there way through even the most difficult passages. Fox in Socks, for example, will challenge the lips of even the most advanced readers.
Because of the sophistication of his writing, it is often hard for me to think of Dr. Seuss as simply a children’s writer, in the same way that it is totally inaccurate to say Pixar creates kids movies.
Oh, the Thinks you can Think! Is a rallying cry to the imagination of adults of all ages. And his last book, Oh, the Places you’ll Go! is simply inspiring. It has probably been used at more college graduation ceremonies than any other book.
Ted Geisel died as perhaps the greatest children’s book writer of all time, and one of history’s greatest storytellers. His books have inspired millions of children and families to read with wonder, excitement and passion.
Ultimately, as a great leader, I think his mark is this, though. He didn’t need a thousand words. He didn’t have a computer with a sophisticated graphics program. He simply had an imagination and the discipline to push it into high gear, and then to finesse his work until it met the highest possible standards – his.
You’ll get mixed up, of course,
as you already know.
You’ll get mixed up
with many strange birds as you go.
So be sure when you step.
Step with great care and tact
and remember that life’s a Great Balancing Act.
Just never forget to be dexterous and deft.
And never mix up your right foot with your left.
Sage advice from the great doctor.
