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. Some of his more well-known works include: Dr. Over the course of his career, Geisel published more than 60 books. Over the following five decades, Geisel would write many books, both in a new, simplified vocabulary style and using his older, more elaborate technique.

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.įollowing the war, Geisel and Helen purchased an old observation tower in La Jolla, California, where he would write for at least eight hours a day, taking breaks to tend his garden. The book sold poorly, but it gave him a break into children's literature.Īt the start of World War II, Geisel began contributing weekly political cartoons to the liberal publication PM Magazine. His ad for Flit, a popular insecticide, became nationally famous.Īround this time, Viking Press offered Geisel a contract to illustrate a children's collection called Boners. Geisel next worked for Standard Oil in the advertising department, where he spent the next 15 years. 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. His articles and illustrations were published in numerous magazines, including LIFE and Vanity Fair. Upon returning to America, Geisel decided to pursue cartooning full-time. 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.'Īfter graduating from Dartmouth, Geisel attended the University of Oxford in England, with plans to eventually become a professor. His father, Theodor Robert Geisel, was a successful brewmaster his mother was Henrietta Seuss Geisel.Īt age 18, Geisel left home to attend Dartmouth College, where he became the editor in chief of its humor magazine, Jack-O-Lantern.

Geisel was born on March 2, 1904, in Springfield, Massachusetts. His rhymes and characters are beloved by generations of fans. Next came a string of bestsellers, including The Cat in the Hat and Green Eggs and Ham. He published his first children's book, And to Think That I Saw It on Mulberry Street, under the name of Dr. Seuss, was a writer and cartoonist who published over 60 books. Theodor Seuss Geisel, better known by his pen name Dr.

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