What's Up With Dr Seuss?

Ever wonder why it is that almost every kindergarten teacher in America has the books of Dr. Seuss as standard reading for their children? Or even better, why almost every kid in America wants to try green eggs and ham for breakfast? Who is this infamous Dr. Seuss that has seemingly taken over our elementary lesson plans and turned to bewitching our kids into wanting to read?

Well, it turns out this Dr. of ours is actually a one, Mr. Theodor Seuss Geisel. Did you catch that? - Seuss is actually his middle name (which was given to him from his mother's maiden name, Henrietta Seuss). Originally from Springfield, Massachusetts young Theodor (nicknamed Ted) was an avid reader. One of his favorite books was The Hole Book and at the age of six, he could recite the whole story by heart.

Ted, of course had other interests such as drawing and visiting the Forest Park Zoo, just six blocks away from their house on Fairfield Street. He would come home from the zoo and try to draw some of the creatures he'd seen. Of course, his imagination would get involved and Ted would have a zoo of his own animal creations. Drawing would come to be a favorite hobby of his all throughout his life, along with naming his creations and coming up with humorous words to put in their mouths.

So, when did this young Ted turn into the Dr. Seuss that would create the books our children are learning to read from? Well, the Seuss part of the name came about while Ted was attending Dartmouth College. As punishment for throwing too loud a party and waking his landlord, the dean of the college forced Ted Geisel to resign as editor of the school paper. But, Ted decided to keep on editing, writing and drawing cartoons under the guise of a different name, 'Ted Seuss' or just 'Seuss'.