Theodor Seuss Geisel

Hello there. My name is Theodor Geisel, but you probably know me by another name, Dr. Seuss. I was born a long, long time ago on a chilly day, March 2nd, 1904, in a town called Springfield. When I was a boy, my imagination was like a big, bouncy balloon that was always growing. My father was the head of the local zoo, and I loved visiting all the animals. I would look at the ostriches, elephants, and lions and imagine them with curlier necks, extra legs, or polka-dotted fur. I couldn’t help but draw these silly new creatures everywhere. I drew them in my notebooks, on scraps of paper, and, oops, even on the walls of my bedroom. My mother didn't mind too much. She always said, 'Keep drawing, Ted. Let your imagination run wild.'.

When I grew up, I still loved to draw and make up silly rhymes. I started by drawing funny cartoons for grown-up magazines. But my biggest dream was to create books for children. I wrote my very first book and called it, 'And to Think That I Saw It on Mulberry Street.' I was so proud of it. I sent it to a person called a publisher, whose job is to turn stories into real books. The first publisher said, 'No, thank you.' So did the second. And the third. Can you believe that over twenty publishers said no? I felt so discouraged. I thought, 'Maybe my book isn't good enough.' One day, I was walking down the street, ready to give up, when I bumped into an old friend from college. He worked for a book publisher. He read my story, loved it, and in 1937, my first book was finally made for children everywhere to read. It taught me to never, ever give up on my dreams.

Many years later, a friend gave me a challenge. He said that children were bored with their reading books. He asked me, 'Can you write a book that is super fun to read, but only using a small list of easy words?'. It was like trying to build a giant castle with only a few toy blocks. It was very, very tricky. I sat at my desk and thought and thought. I looked at the list of words: cat, hat, sat, mat. What could I do? Suddenly, a picture popped into my head. It was a tall, skinny cat with a big, red-and-white striped hat and a mischievous grin. 'Aha.' I shouted. I knew just what to write. That idea became my book, 'The Cat in the Hat,' which came out in 1957. That silly cat showed everyone that reading wasn't boring at all—it was a wonderful adventure.

I wrote many more books after that, like the story of the grumpy Grinch who learned about kindness and the Lorax who spoke for the trees. I wanted my stories to do more than just make you giggle. I wanted them to make you think about being a good friend, taking care of our world, and being true to yourself. Even though I am not here anymore, my stories and all my silly characters live on in books and in your imagination. So, the next time you see a strange-looking bug or a funny-shaped cloud, remember me. Keep imagining, keep dreaming, and never forget that 'a person's a person, no matter how small.'.