In 1950, Theodor Geisel—known to the world even then as Dr. Seuss—met up with a friend who worked for a new animation studio called United Productions of America. "UPA has a fresh outlook," the friend said. Could Seuss write something new and different for them? Something that had a little more going for it than the usual cats chasing mice? "Just suppose," Seuss came back, "there was a little kid who didn't speak words but only weird sounds?" And that's how Gerald McBoing Boing came into being. Brought to life by UPA as an animated cartoon, it attracted legions of fans, rave reviews, and went on to win an Academy Award® in 1951. Available in book form only briefly at the time of the movie's release, here it is again—unique, delectable, vintage Seuss.
"A person's a person, no matter how small," Theodor Seuss Geisel, a.k.a. Dr. Seuss, would say. "Children want the same things we want. To laugh, to be challenged, to be entertained and delighted."
Brilliant, playful, and always respectful of children, Dr. Seuss charmed his way into the consciousness of four generations of youngsters and parents. In the process, he helped millions of kids learn to read.
Dr. Seuss was born Theodor Geisel in Springfield, Massachusetts, on March 2, 1904. After graduating from Dartmouth College in 1925, he went to Oxford University, intending to acquire a doctorate in literature. At Oxford, Geisel met Helen Palmer, whom he wed in 1927. Upon his return to America later that year, Geisel published cartoons and humorous articles for Judge, the leading humor magazine in America at that time. His cartoons also appeared in major magazines such as Life, Vanity Fair, and Liberty. Geisel gained national exposure when he won an advertising contract for an insecticide called Flit. He coined the phrase, "Quick, Henry, the Flit!" which became a popular expression.
Geisel published his first children's book, And to Think That I Saw It on Mulberry Street, in 1937, after 27 publishers rejected it.
Winner of the Pulitzer Prize in 1984, an Academy Award, three Emmy Awards, three Grammy Awards, and three Caldecott Honors, Geisel wrote and illustrated 44 books. While Theodor Geisel died on September 24, 1991, Dr. Seuss lives on, inspiring generations of children of all ages to explore the joys of reading.
