Overview

Dr. Seuss's infectious rhymes, fanciful creatures, and roundabout plots not only changed the way children read but imagined the world. And to Think That I Saw It On Mulberry Street, Green Eggs and Ham,The Cat and the Hat, these and other classics have sold hundreds of millions of copies and entertained children and adults for decades. After graduating from Dartmouth, Theodor Geisel used his talents as an ad-man, political provocateur, and social satirist, gradually but irrevocably turning to children's books. Theodor Geisel tells the unlikely story of this remarkable transformation. In this compact and engrossing biography, Donald Pease reveals the evolution of Dr. Seuss's creative persona while offering an honest appraisal of his life. The book also features many of Dr. Seuss's lesser-known illustrations, including college drawings, insecticide ads, and wartime political cartoons--all of which offer a glimpse of his early artistic style and the visual origins of the more famous creatures that later populated his children's books. As Pease traces the full arc of Dr. Seuss's prolific career, he combines close textual readings of many of Dr. Seuss's works with a unique look at their genesis to shed new light on the enduring legacy of America's favorite children's book author.

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9780190614522

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Reviews

Highly engaging and eminently readable, this short yet comprehensive biography of the author of the some of the most popular children's classics of all time is bound to be of wide interest to anyone who grew up with them and would like to know more about the life and career of the man who was Dr. Seuss. -Lawrence Buell, Harvard University Dr. Seuss is known to millions of grateful readers of all ages, but Theodore Geisel to far fewer. But, indeed, he was a major presence in the world of literature in the twentieth century, as Donald E. Pease Jr. makes abundantly clear in this thoroughly engaging, often brilliant, biography. It's an original work of scholarship as well as a book with narrative momentum. I learned a great deal from its pages, which has sent me back to Dr. Seuss-always a good place to land. -Jay Parini author of The Last Station I'm glad that so many of Donald Pease's unique and revealing insights on Dr. Seuss observations he shared with me on camera with an effusiveness and profundity quite unmatched A solid addition to the literature about one of the 20th century's most influential American writers. Kirkus The biography offers a succinct, thoroughly researched, and engaging introduction to one of children's literature most influential creators...The result is a smoothly integrated portrait that humanizes an American icon and will appeal to casual readers and researchers alike. Booklist Lively little psychobiography...Pease nimbly demonstrates that Geisel's lessons for children and adults alike are that learning need not be tedious, brilliance need not be gratuitously complex, and moral lessons can be conveyed without scolding. Daily Beast Offering a compelling treatment that is accessible to any reader...Highly recommended. Choice Well researched biography. It is both a candid and a sensitive portrayal of an author and illustrator, revealing his pain and sensitivities from childhood to old age...This volume deserves a place in academic, public and school libraries. It is truly a treasure. Highly recommended. Catholic Library World A distinguished addition to the Lives and Legacies series...Pease's sensitivity to the quality of linguistic play and the substance of the author's communitarian message demonstrates why Seuss's art has earned its continued admiration and universal respect. Modern Fiction Studies

Author Information

Donald Pease is Professor of English, Comparative Literature, and African-American Literature at Dartmouth, the Avalon Foundation Chair of the Humanities, the Founding Director of the Futures of American Studies Institute at Dartmouth, and the Chair of the Dartmouth Liberal Studies Program.

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