Happy Birthday Dr Seuss by Sylva Fae Happy Birthday Dr Seuss! March the 2nd is Dr Seuss’s birthday and is a US reading celebration day. Although a US celebration, the quirky stories of Dr Seuss are celebrated by children the world over. Born in Springfield, Massachusetts in 1904, Theodor Seuss Geissel was an American writer and illustrator of immensely popular books. His illustration style is instantly recognisable, and his books are known for their nonsense words, tongue-twister rhymes and unusual characters. Forty-five of his books were published, and many went on to become best-sellers, TV series and feature films.
7) The Cat in the Hat was written because Seuss found the ‘Dick and Jane’ stories of the time to be boring and uninspiring. He rightly believed that if the children were not engaged, they would not be compelled to repeat the words as they learnt to read. 8) Seuss’s editor made him a $50 bet that he couldn’t write a book using only 50 words. Not wanting to back down from a challenge, Seuss came up with ‘Green Eggs and Ham’, which uses exactly 50 words.
Ten Fun Facts 1) He often came up with ideas by doodling. 2) Seuss attributes his love of rhyme to his mother, because when he was little, she would make up rhymes based on pie flavours to entertain him.
9) Seuss’s phone number was only one digit different from a local fish shop. Seuss would sometimes send the caller a picture of the fish they ordered, rather than explain their error.
3) ‘Zoyce’ is the German pronunciation of ‘Seuss’ but readers would always pronounce it, ‘Soose’. Despite the error, Seuss liked that it rhymed with Mother Goose, so adopted the pronunciation.
10) In 2010, Life Books added Dr Seuss to their list of 100 People Who Changed the World.
4) Seuss kept a closet full of wacky hats and whenever he had writers block, he would put on a hat and the words would flow.
5) Seuss is known for inventing words. He is credited with inventing the word, ‘nerd’. It first appeared in, ‘If I Ran The Zoo’, in 1950. 6) Seuss’s licence plate was, ‘GRINCH’.
- 34 -
