Essay --

Dr. Seuss was one of the influential well known children's author. His books are still read to children today. My personal favorite book of his is "Horton Hears a Who!". His real name is Theodor Seuss Geisel. He was born on March 2, 1904. Was an a American writer, poet, and cartoonist. He was most widely known for his children's books written and illustrated as Dr. Seuss. He had used the pen name Dr. Theophrastus Seuss in college and later used Theo LeSieg and Rosetta Stone. Geisel Published 46 children's books, often characterized by imaginative characters, rhyme, and frequent use of anapestic meter. His most-celebrated books include the bestselling Green Eggs and Ham, The Cat in the Hat, The Lorax, One Fish Two Fish Red Fish Blue Fish, Horton Hatches the Egg, Horton Hears a Who!, and How the Grinch Stole Christmas!. His works have spawned numerous adaptions including 11 television specials, four features films, a Broadway musical and four television series. He won the Lewis Carroll Shelf Award in 1958 for Horton Hatches the Egg and again in 1961 for And to think That I Saw It on mulberry street. Geisel also worked as an illustrator for advertising campaigns, most notably for Flit and Standard Oil, and as a political cartoonist for PM, a New York City newspaper. During World War II, he worked in an animation department of the United States Army, where he wrote Design for Death, a film that later won the 1947 Academy Award for Documentary Feature. He was a perfectionist in his work and would sometimes spend up to a year on a book. It was not uncommon for him to throw out 95% of his material until he settled on a theme for his book. For a writer he was usual in that he preferred to be paid only after he finished his work rathe... ...heir original appearances. In May 1954, Life magazine published a report on illiteracy among school children, witch concluded children were not learning because their books were boring. Accordingly, William Ellsworth Spaulding, director of the education division at Houghton Mifflin, who later became its chairman, compiled a list of 348 words he left were important for first graders to recognize and ask Geisel to cut the list to 250 words and write a book using only those words. Spaulding challenged Geisel to make a children book that they cannot put down. Nine months later, Geisel, using 236 of the words given to him, completed The Cat in the Hat. It retained the drawing style, verse rhythms, and all of the imaginative power of Geisel's earlier works, but because if its simplified vocabulary it could be read by beginner readers. The Cat in the Hat