On March 2, Dr. Seuss, known for “Green Eggs and Ham” and “The Cat in the Hat,” would be 121-years-old if he were still alive today.
In honor of his birthday, here are five things that you might not know about Dr. Seuss.
5 interesting facts about Dr. Seuss
Dr. Seuss wasn’t an actual doctor
Yes that’s right, Dr. Seuss wasn’t a medical doctor.
According to History, the author was born as Theodor Seuss Geisel in Springfield, Massachusetts. He was the grandson of German immigrants and Seuss was his mother’s maiden name.
He first graduated from Dartmouth in 1925 and then went on to study English literature at Oxford. In 1955, he was awarded an honorary doctorate from Dartmouth, according to ABC7.
He started as an illustrator
Despite his education in English literature, Dr. Seuss began his career as an illustrator and humorist at Life and Vanity Fair, according to Britannica.
He also found success in advertising where he made illustrations for a number of campaigns. He was most known for his work with an insect repellent called Flit, per Britannica.
He wrote ‘The Cat in the Hat’ to help kids learn how to read
When Dr. Seuss became concerned about children learning how to read, and with a challenge from a publisher to “write (them) a story that first-graders can’t put down,” he wrote “The Cat in the Hat,” according to ABC7.
With his “nonsense words, playful rhymes and unusual creatures,” Dr. Seuss' books for beginning readers were “valued for their contribution to the education of children” as they differed from other traditional, and “often boring,” educational books, according to Britannica.
Dr. Seuss didn’t have any biological children
According to History, Dr. Seuss' first wife, Helen Geisel, couldn’t bear children and he never had any children with his second wife, Audrey, who he married after Helen died.
However, Dr. Seuss did become a stepfather to Audrey’s two daughters, who she had during her previous marriage.
When asked how he was able to connect with children so well without having any of his own, he said “You have ‘em and I’ll entertain ‘em,” per History.
His awards
Here are all of his awards according to The Art of Dr. Seuss Collection website.
- “Hitler Lives?” — Academy Award for Best Documentary Short Subject — 1946
- “Design for Death” — Academy Award for Best Documentary Feature — 1947
- “Gerald McBoing-Boing” — Oscar for Best Animated Short Film — 1951
- “How the Grinch Stole Christmas” — Peabody Award — 1971
- “Horton Hears a Who!” — Peabody Award — 1971
- “Halloween Is Grinch Night” — Emmy Award for Best Children’s Special — 1977
- “The Grinch Grinches The Cat in the Hat” — Emmy Award for Best Children’s Special — 1982
- Pulitzer Prize — 1984
- New York Public Library Literary Lion — 1986
- Life Books' 100 People Who Changed the World — 2010
- Dartmouth Medical School named after him and his second wife — 2012
- Three Caldecott awards
- The Legion of Merit award
- Hollywood Walk of Fame star
The 10 best books from Dr. Seuss
These are the top 10 best Dr. Seuss books, according to Goodreads.
- Green Eggs and Ham
- Oh, the Places You’ll Go
- One Fish, Two Fish, Red Fish, Blue Fish
- The Cat in the Hat
- The Lorax
- How the Grinch Stole Christmas!
- Hop on Pop
- Yertle the Turtle and Other Stories
- Fox in Socks
- Horton Hatches the Egg