This book, which the publishers describe as "chronological-ish," goes all the way back in Geisel's history, interspersing short blocks of texts with his beautiful illustrations. I know Dr. Seuss's kids books, but that's pretty much it; I didn't know about him.
For instance, Geisel got kicked off Dartmouth's humor magazine by sharing a pint of gin with ten friends during Prohibition. He kept submitting cartoons under different pseudonyms, including: Theo Seuss 2nd; Dr. Theophrastus Seuss; Dr. Theodophilus Seuss, Ph.D, I.Q., H2SO4. "And to Think That I Saw It on Mulberry Street" was published in 1937, by Dr. Seuss.
He used to take parts of dead animals and made strange taxidermic pieces of his imaginary creatures:
He drew ads and political cartoons, joined the Army in 1942, then left cartooning to make war films. When he got back to illustration, he did it all: rough sketches, preliminary drawings, final line drawings, and finished work for every page in the books. He was involved with things every step of the way, not needing an entire agency. "Ted was from an era and a mind-set in which the artist lived or died by his own hand."
One of my favorite quotes about Geisel's work is from Karla Kuskin, critic and children's author: "His characters have two family characteristics: slightly batty, oval eyes and a smile you might find on the Mona Lisa after her first martini."
The book is fascinating to read, but more than anything I want to tear out all the illustrations and wallpaper my home with them.
Well, I was getting ready to tell you that this was going to be the next book I download on my Kindle, but after seeing those illustrations I think that would be a terrible idea. Looks like I'll be adding to my physical book collection!
ReplyDeleteWorth it! The text is interesting, but I spent most of my time on the pictures... I actually went through the book first and looked at them all, then started at the beginning to read it.
DeleteOOOH! This sounds fantastic! Will definitely have to check this one out! Thanks for sharing!!!!!
ReplyDelete(trying to fit in as many !!! as I can, clearly!)
"Maybe I don't use my exclamation points as haphazardly as you do." (I have a Seinfeld quote for everything.)
DeleteI LOVE exclamation points so I will never judge you on that!
"I would put exclamation points at the end of all these sentences! On this one! And on that one!"
So glad you threw the Seinfeld reference in on your reply to the last comment. :-)
ReplyDeleteThat Mona Lisa quote is awesome. I instantly pictured her smiling after one martini, and it was a perfect Dr Seuss smile.
Even if I don't say/type a Seinfeld quote, I usually think of one for every situation. Even if it's completely random. George likes his chicken spicy!
DeleteThat's why I love that quote - it's SO perfectly descriptive. And definitely fits his typical characters.
I think I'd enjoy reading this book! I used to have a vast obsession for the stories!
ReplyDelete+Victoria+
Maybe you could turn it into a homeschool lesson? Art and biography.
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