Essay on Dr. Seuss Report

In The Butter Battle Book, by Dr. Seuss differences between two groups of people turn deadly as they see one another's beliefs as stupid and decide to attempt genocide on one another. It is set in two towns separated by a wall. One called the Zooks the others are Yooks. He uses a young Yook who is easily influenced by his grandfather to progress the conflict between the two sides as one side attacks the other. Throughout the story, Dr. Seuss uses exaggeration, incongruity, and parody to gain attention within his satire.

The Lorax by Dr. Seuss is a children's book about greed and destruction. The book is set in the forest of Truffula Trees. The Once-ler was riding through the country in his wagon one day and discovers the beautiful forest of Truffula Trees.

Seuss was still able to make reading fun and enjoyable to children. Along the lines of his illustrations, Theodor Geisel was among the first authors to put illustrations equal with text, enabling his readers to follow the action and the story simultaneously. True to his eccentric character and unique perspective, Seuss basically drew things as he saw them. Surprisingly, he had strict guidelines on how to write children's books. There was only one illustration per page and nothing could describe anything pictured. That way, children can work out the story from the illustrations. In addition, his characters are unique. Although his characters may seem simplistic, Seuss' illustrations are inimitable. Through his drawings, word selection, and rhythm, Seuss created subliminal messages for his readers.

Furthermore, the illustrations paint a beautiful picture that I like to think is an insight into a child’s mind, which I is a key element in this book and what makes it so great. Since the book is narrated by a child the intentional simplicity of the words and the controlled chaos that is the illustrations breathes unadulterated life into a rather normal children’s book.

More then exceeding my expectations, Seussical the Musical opened on Broadway in 2000 and has since been preformed in off-Broadway settings around the country. Intricately weaving The Cat in the Hat with the various chronicles of Horton the elephant such as Horton Hears a Who and Horton Hatches an Egg, this performance exceeded my expectations. Considering it was a dinner theater in Jacksonville, Florida and that the play’s namesake came from a book my parents read to me as a toddler, my expectations were relatively low; however, the performance greatly exceeded my preconceived expectations. From the high quality of the actors to the surprisingly sophisticated plot, this play proved to be a real treat.

“ I do not like green eggs and ham I do not like them Sam-I-Am.” These famous words not only started my childhood but many children’s childhood. Theodore Seuss Geisel or most commonly known as Dr. Seuss was born on March 2, 1994 and from there the world was changed. Theodore Geisel is a charismatic man who put his lively personality into his fun and lighthearted books like Green Eggs and Ham, The classic Cat in the Hat, and the iconic How the Grinch Stole Christmas.

Geisel is thought to be one of the best children’s book authors. “For most people the thought of growing up in a world without Green Eggs and Ham, Grinches, and Cats in Hats is barely conceivable” (Levine 10). Children throughout the world have grown up with the wonderful books created by “Dr. Seuss”. “These odd creations occupy a special place in the earliest memories of children around the world” (Levine 10). He has been able to not only capture their minds but their hearts as well. Geisel’s colorful imagination, upbeat rhymes, and unique illustrations seem to have no limits. He has written books that range from simply humorous to impressively insightful. This has contributed greatly in him selling more than 200 million copies. To many “Dr. Seuss is by far the best-selling children’s author to date, and perhaps the most beloved” (Levine

Dr. Seuss is probably the American writer who has so far had the greatest impact on children's literature. The intelligent usage of vivid illustrations, imaginative characters, and catchy rhymes made it easy for people who grew up reading these stories to recognize them. However, although the author worked tirelessly at his craft, he is not well-known since he did not seek after personal fame. Most of the fans to his literary materials are not well conversant with the details of his private life. For instance, most people are not aware that Dr. Seuss was not a doctor, but simply added the prefix to his pseudonym to provide credibility to the menagerie of characters in his works (Thompson 21). He worked as a writer and a cartoonist, publishing nearly more than sixty books. Some of the most famous pieces of his work include “Green Eggs and Ham” and the “The Cat in the Hat.”

Even though Dr. Seuss was voted “least likely to succeed” (“Grahame-Smith” 14) in college he quickly proved everyone wrong. He was widely known for his great books written for children. “Many of his books were initially composed of his sketches”(“Dr. Seuss” St. James). Dr. Seuss successfully wrote and illustrated sixty books for children (“Dr. Seuss” Biography). Dr. Seuss was able to impact the lives of many people with his constant hard work and creativity.

Dr. Seuss I took an unconventional approach in the topic I chose for my reading assignment – whereas most groups selected single novels, my partner and I opted to read a collection of short stories by none other than the notorious Dr. Seuss. Were I writing this essay on a “normal” book, I would be able to pose a question about the book itself and answer it in an ordinary sort of way. However, given the subject matter I have chosen, an essay on an individual book, though possible, would be a very tricky thing to do. It would be wiser, and probably easier, to respond to the man himself. My decision to respond to the man himself makes many more choices – what facet of Dr. Seuss shall I ask myself questions about? I think

Dr. Seuss greatly impacted children’s books. He changed the way that children’s books are written and illustrated with his original style. Many people consider Dr. Seuss’s unique style to be one of his greatest achievements (“Contemporary Authors”). Before Dr. Seuss’s books, children’s books were very bland and uncreative. After the release of his books, many authors follow his example when writing their books (“Theodor

Theodor Seuss Geisel, known to most as Dr. Seuss, is a children’s literature author with a variety of brilliantly playful beginning reader’s books, including Yertle the Turtle and Other Stories. His works in literature and animation have earned him many awards and honors over the years, and his lifelong contributions will be carried on from generation to generation.

For example, his peculiar character names, such as Lorax and Thidwick the Moose, came from his childhood experiences at his father’s zoo (Kaplan). Growing up during World War I subjected Geisel to anti-German sentiment, isolating him from society. As a result, his family would often plot revenge and practical jokes against their neighbors; these plots generated laughter because they were never actually carried out. The family plots from Seuss’ childhood are tell-tale signs of his later works published in his adult life (Kaplan). Besides his immediate family, his first wife, Helen Geisel, was also one of Seuss’ literary influences; she was his severest critic and strongest editor (Kaplan). She was instrumental in the creative process and was as much a perfectionist as Seuss (Kaplan). Dr. Seuss’ literary influences were not just his family and wife – his publishers pushed him just as much. Theodor’s editor bet him fifty dollars that he could not write a children’s book using only fifty words. Taking on the bet, Dr. Seuss took months to write Green Eggs and Ham; the success of this book led to a new division of books called Beginner Books, with Ted appointed as President (Kaplan). Another publisher challenged Seuss to write a story using only a list of words first graders

The illustrations in The Cat in the Hat really show the story and even if this book was a wordless picture book then children could understand what is going on. I think that goes to show how much the illustrations really do enforce the text. On the very first page, Dr. Seuss establishes the setting with a picture of a house and one can assume that is where the story takes place (Seuss 1). Dr. Seuss uses a lot of visual elements such as lines to show movement and he only uses shades of blue and red to add color to his book. Something else that I found interesting was the fact that he used the seam in the book as a corner in the house. On the first page, you see the house with a window on its side but no door which would presumably be on the left side of the house where the stairs are. When you open to the second page, you see the children sitting at the window. On pages five and six you finally see the door appear on a separate page than the window. If you close the book slightly you can imagine this is a 3-D element to the book. I may be overthinking it but I think that if this was intentional then Dr. Seuss may have been smarter than people give him credit for.

The Cat In The Hat by Dr. Seuss, pseudonym of Theodor Seuss Geisel, tells a story of two children at home on a rainy day alone, being visited by the Cat in the Hat and the turmoil that he causes. The Cat In The Hat is clearly Geisel’s most famous book, written in 1956 and published in 1957, considered a children’s classic today. It was The Cat In The Hat “where Dr. Seuss jubilantly breaks the barriers of the basal reader’s simplistic language and pedestrian artwork” (MacDonald 10). In The Cat In The Hat, Geisel uses this childish language and comical pictures as well as an interesting story and fun characters to not only create a successful children’s book but to deliver a subtle political message of rebellion against authority.