Dr. Seuss: Stories For All Ages Known primarily for his children’s books, Theodor Seuss Geisel, better known to the public as Dr. Seuss, has become more than a renowned author throughout his lifetime. He has become an icon and still continues his legacy thereafter with a very well known name around the house. Using his creative imagination and his own personal life experiences in his stories, Dr. Seuss made it very attainable for both children and adults alike to become interested in his writings. Along with his love for writing to a children’s audience, Geisel was known for his political cartoons and advertising designs, as well as directing films. With his keen knack for reaching out to a wide array of viewers and readers, Dr. Seuss will forever remain a legend in the minds of both children and adults. Geisel had a talent, a talent unlike many, he had the ability to incorporate numerous intriguing ideas, rhymes and lessons into his stories and he knew how to precisely use this talent to catch the attention of his spectators. He once said, “I like nonsense, it wakes up the brain cells. Fantasy is a necessary ingredient in living. It’s a way of looking at life through the wrong end of a telescope, which is what I do. And that enables you to laugh at life’s realities.” (Best Sayings from Theodore Seuss Geisel) Children have always been mesmerized at his stories because of how unreal they seem. The idea of places existing where there are unknown types of creatures like Nooks, Wumps and Yinks in someone’s back yard or crazy cats trying to turn houses upside down is in itself bizarre, but to young children just beginning to read, it is not

only enjoyable to read, it is a stimulation of their imaginations. Little girls and boys stay up begging their mom’s or dad’s to finish the story from the night before to see if Sam ever ended up eating the “Green Eggs and Ham.” He has created a fun cycle of stories which are passed down from generation to generation He created that pattern when he decided to look at the world in that backward way that he did and it has taken him so far into the memories or adults and children that there is no possible way that anyone will ever lose sight of the special imagination he brought into their minds. Theodor Geisel’s successes in life and as an author are due to the combination of all of his works. However, one book in particular gave him what most would call his “big break.” When his publisher, “Houghton Mifflin asked Geisel to write and illustrate a children’s primer using only 225, ‘new reader’ vocabulary words,” (All About Dr. Seuss) Geisel stepped up to the challenge and created his most popular book ever, “The Cat in the Hat.” It has been noted as one of the most prevalent books in the country and it is clear that people of all ages are fans. Being made into plays and now movies is proof of how far this children’s book have taken Dr. Seuss as an author. Of the 46 children’s stories that he has written, to have such a simple book go that far in terms of popularity in society, even 50 years later, is quite an accomplishment to say the least. The book alone made him one of the most definitive children’s book author and illustrator ever. There are authors who go through their entire life writing countless novels and stories and have nothing to show for it. They do it because their love for writing and personal fix’s they get from doing so. Some would consider it a triumph in their career for another even purchase what they have written. Although he too would have most likely settled for the least amount of acknowledgement, he received much more than that. “During his lifetime his work was awarded two Oscars, two Emmys, a Peabody, a New York Library Literary Lion, three Cal- Decott Honor Awards, and a Laura Ingalls Wilder Award” (Pease x). He was also recognized with his own personal star on Hollywood’s Walk of Fame, not to mention many of his books made it onto multiple top children’s books lists as well as being awarded with other, compared to his Oscars and Emmys, tedious recognitions. To walk away from such an exuberant type of career knowing that you made so much of an impact in people’s lives by your work, must have been an amazing feeling for him. To think that one person can have such an impact on the lives of children: teaching them to read, rhyme and above all broaden their imaginations with such ease is amazing and what he was recognized for was beyond well deserved. For someone so jubilant in his writing and general persona, Dr. Seuss must have had such a euphoric set of parents guiding his upbringing, as most would think. Not to say that he did not, however, his father was a stern man of the house. Sometimes pushing away the closest people to him for long periods of time, Geisel learned discipline solidity from his father. “‘My father had an all-consuming hobby,’ Ted recalled, “that I always thought was silly and unproductive. It was shooting holes in paper targets. But he was an inspiration. Whatever you do, he taught me, do it to perfection” (Morgan 7). His father actually always wanted Ted to be a doctor and attend college for something along those lines, which is why he put the “Dr.” in front of his middle name, Seuss, creating what society knows him as today. As for his mother, he thanks her for his knack of rhyming; as she would chant them to her children in attempt to sooth them to sleep. Along with that, the German that was taught to Geisel mixed with English was Another tool along the way that helped him make up fun, words and rhymes that other people may not have been able to catch on to out of the blue. Parents have control over

a large part of how a child will turn out as an adult and through his childhood, it seems as though Theodor took from them important traits that made his career as an author even more of a success that it could have turned out to be. Despite his awesome abilities to reach out to children and be so in touch with that type of audience, Dr. Seuss ad none of his own. “His widow, Audrey, told the BBC he was even ‘slightly afraid of them. He was always asking 'what might they do or ask next?' He couldn't just sit down on the floor and play with them” (Interesting Facts About Dr. Seuss). It is strange to think that someone who seems to be on the same exact page with the imagination of a child, and know how one particular thing could excite him or her and make his or her imagination run wild could, in reality, be sort of distant when it comes to interaction. Authors can be so different from what they are like in reality than what they appear to be in their stories or whatever else they happen to be writing. One could only imagine how neat it would be to be Dr. Seuss’s grandchild and having their minds filled with the visions he stores in his books in a bedtime story. Aside from what amazing things he wrote about and conjured up to put in his books, films, cartoons and fun illustrations, as a person, Ted Geisel seemed to be quite the character him self. To actually think about and wonder what goes on in the mind of someone who writes all of these bizarre stories is enough to make someone want to explore their own imagination a little more out of his or her comfort zone. His works were genius and mind boggling to say the least and they will always be recognized as being just that. To rhyme with such fun charisma and to jumble words together and create something special for people of all ages to learn from and enjoy is what Dr.
Seuss was ideally meant for as an author. To think, his father wanted him to become a doctor and do nothing along the lines of what he ended up doing that would be a common misconception. He did turn out to be a doctor, in a weird kind of way. Dr. Seuss has made an impact in so many lives, teaching people to use their imaginations and think in unthinkable ways. People want the same things. To laugh, to be challenged, to be entertained, and delighted, Theodor Seuss Geisel gives everyone a little taste of what they could ever want, just by flipping through a few pages of one of his awesome stories, which is what makes him the legend he is today and the Dr. He will always be.