Mr. Write's Page

You can’t underestimate the impact of Dr. Seuss, the legendary writer and illustrator, on children’s literature and the literacy of generations of kids worldwide.

Theodor Seuss Geisel (1904-1991) had no children of his own, but he spent his adult life writing children’s books that were enormously influential. They were respectful of children and, at the same time, playfully outrageous and fun.

Dr. Seuss books, still top-sellers today, continue to help youngsters learn to read by making them want to read.

During his career, Geisel earned two Academy Awards, two Emmies, a Peabody Award, and a Pulitzer Prize. The Pulitzer in 1984 was for his “contribution over nearly half a century to the education and enjoyment of America’s children and their parents.”

Geisel had been a cartoonist and an illustrator in the advertising business for 10 years when in 1937, he published his first book as Dr. Seuss: And to Think That I Saw It on Mulberry Street.

20 publishers rejected Mulberry Street before Geisel got lucky and ran into a college chum who had just become an editor at Vanguard Press. Vanguard published the book. Sales were modest, but the book was highly praised by critics.

Through the 1940s and 1950s, Geisel published a series of books as Dr. Seuss. But the book that made him famous was The Cat in the Hat in 1957.

The backstory of The Cat in the Hat is a fascinating story in itself.

In 1954, author John Hersey wrote a story for Life Magazine that addressed why young students were so slow at learning to read. Hersey made two conclusions: first, that kids watched too much TV; and second, that the standard “Dick and Jane” and “See Spot Run” style readers were boring and uninspiring.

Hersey’s story caught the attention of William Spaulding, head of the education division of Houghton Mifflin. Spaulding was motivated to compile a list of 348 words that he believed all 6- and 7-year-olds should know.

Spaulding showed the list to Geisel and challenged him to write a children’s book using 225 words from the list — and only those words. “Write a story that first-graders can’t put down,” Spaulding told him.

Nine months later, Geisel completed The Cat in the Hat, which used 236 of the words on Spaulding’s list. Geisel said he tried, but could not meet, the goal of 225 words.

The Cat in the Hat was vintage Dr. Seuss in every respect. But its simplified vocabulary made it ideal for beginning readers. It quickly sold over a million copies.

So far, The Cat in the Hat has been published in 12 different languages, and umpteen million copies have been sold.

A few years after the success of The Cat in the Hat, editor Bennett Cerf at Random House approached Geisel with another challenge — this time accompanied by a wager.

Cerf bet Geisel $50 that he couldn’t write a children’s book using 50 or fewer distinct words.

Geisel responded with Green Eggs and Ham, which used precisely 50 different words.

Reportedly, Cerf never paid off the bet, but Geisel probably forgave him. The book became the top seller of Dr. Seuss’s career.

Being a “word nerd,” I find this kind of minutia truly fascinating. But I realize not everyone is wired like me.

If words aren’t your thing, you can stop reading now. Goodbye, and have a nice day.

—————–

BONUS FEATURES FOR WORD NERDS

1 — The 236 words used by Dr. Seuss in “The Cat in the Hat”

a, about, after, all, always, and, another, any, are, as, asked, at, away, back, bad, ball, be, bed, bent, bet, big, bit, bite, book, books, bow, box, bump, bumps, but, cake, call, came, can, cat, cold, come, could, cup, day, dear, deep, did, dish, do, dots, down, fall, fan, fast, fear, fell, find, fish, fly, for, fox, from, fun,

funny, game, games, gave, get, give, go, gone, good, got, gown, had, hall, hand, hands, has, hat, have, he, head, hear, her, here, high, him, his, hit, hold, home, hook, hop, hops, house, how, I, if, in, into, is, it, jump, jumps, kicks, kind, kinds, kite, kites, know, last, let, like, lit, little, look, looked, lot, lots, made, make,

man, mat, me, mess, milk, mind, mother, mother’s, my, near, net, new, no, not, nothing, now, of, oh, on, one, our, out, pack, pat, pick, picked, pink, play, playthings, plop, pot, put, rake, ran, red, rid, run, sad, said, sally, sank, sat, saw, say, see, shake, shame, she, shine, ship, shook, should, show, shut, sit, so, some, something, stand,

step, stop, string, strings, sun, sunny, tail, take, tall, tame, tell, that, the, their, them, then, there, these, they, thing, things, think, this, those, thump, thumps, tip, to, too, top, toy, trick, tricks, two, up, us, wall, want, was, way, we, well, went, were, wet, what, when, white, who, why, will, wish, with, wood, would, yes, yet, you, your.

(Interesting fact: “green,” “eggs,” and “ham” do not appear on the list.)

2 — The 50 words used Dr. Dr. Seuss in “Green Eggs and Ham”

a, am, and, anywhere, are, be, boat, box, car, could, dark, do, eat, eggs, fox, goat, good, green, ham, here, house, I, if, in, let, like, may, me, mouse, not, on, or, rain, Sam, say, see, so, thank, that, the, them, there, they, train, tree, try, will, with, would, you.

(Interesting fact: “cat” and “hat” do not appear on the list.)

Theodor Seuss Geisel