Theodor Seuss Geisel, better known to the world as the beloved Dr. Seuss, was born in 1904 in Springfield, Massachusetts. Geisel’s father, Theodor Robert, and grandfather were 1)brewmasters in the city. His mother, Henrietta Seuss Geisel, often 2)soothed her children to sleep by repeating 3)rhymes remembered from her youth. Geisel 4)credited his mother to be his first 5)inspiration.
Although the onset of World War I and Prohibition注6)presented both 7)financial and social challenges for the German 8)immigrants, the family managed to make it through, providing the young Geisel and his sister,Marnie, with happy childhoods.
His childhood in Springfield inspired some of his work, such as Horton the Elephant walking along streams in the Jungle of Nool, which mirror the waterways of the town.
Geisel left Springfield as a teenager to attend Dartmouth College, where he became 9)editor-in-chief of the Jack-O-Lantern, Dartmouth’s humor magazine. His time as editor ended sooner than expected, however, when Geisel and his friends were caught throwing a drinking party, which was against the prohibition laws and school 10)policy, but he continued to 11)contribute to the magazine, signing his work “Seuss,” which was both Geisel’s middle name and his mother’s 12)maiden name.
To please his father, who wanted him to be a college professor, Geisel went on to Oxford University in England after graduation. However, his 13)academic studies bored him, and he decided to tour Europe instead. Oxford did provide him the opportunity to meet a classmate, Helen Palmer, who encouraged him to become a professional 14)illustrator and became his first wife.
After returning to the United States, Geisel began to 15)pursue a career as a cartoonist. The Saturday Evening Post and other publications 16)featured some of his early pieces, but most of Geisel’s activity during his early career was devoted to creating advertisements for Standard Oil, which he did for more than 15 years.
During World War II, Geisel turned his focus towards 17)political cartoons. He drew more than 400 cartoons for New York’s daily newspaper, PM. In 1943, Geisel 18)enrolled in the US army as 19)commander of the Animation 20)Department. There he made 21)a series of army training films. His work with the First Motion Picture Unit of the US Army introduced him to the art of animation.
While Geisel was continuing to contribute to Life, Vanity Fair, Judge and other magazines, Viking Press offered him a 22)contract to illustrate a collection of children’s sayings called Boners. Although the book was not a 23)commercial success, the illustrations received great reviews, providing Geisel with his first “big break” into children’s 24)literature. However, getting the first book published that he both wrote and illustrated, And to Think That I Saw It on Mulberry Street, required a great degree of 25)persistence―it was rejected 27 times before being published by Vanguard Press.
In 1954, Geisel was 26)approached by William Ellsworth Spaulding, the director of the education 27)division at Houghton Mifflin, to write a book using only 250 words which William thought were important for first grade students to learn. The idea was inspired by a report published in Life magazine, which said that children were unable to learn reading because their books were boring. Geisel, using 236 words, completed The Cat in the Hat―a perfect 28)blend of Geisel’s 29)verse rhythms, drawing skills and imaginative power. This book along with others written for your young children, were a huge success both on a national and international level.
After Geisel’s first wife died in 1967, he married Audrey Stone Dimond, who not only 30)influenced his later books, but guards his 31)legacy as the 32)president of Dr. Seuss 33)Enterprises.
At the time of his death on September 24th, 1991, Geisel wrote over 60 books. Though most were published under his well-known 34)pseudonym, Dr. Seuss, he also 35)authored over a dozen books as Theo LeSieg and one as Rosetta Stone. His books have topped many bestseller lists, sold over 600 million copies, and been 36)translated into more than 20 languages.
西奥多・苏斯・盖泽尔――即众所周知、广受爱戴的苏斯博士,于1904年出生于(美国)马萨诸塞州斯普林菲尔德市。盖泽尔的父亲西奥多・罗伯特和祖父都是市里的酿酒师。他的母亲汉丽埃塔・苏斯・盖泽尔常常哼着童年记忆中的歌谣哄孩子们睡觉。盖泽尔将他最初的灵感归功于他的母亲。
第一次世界大战的爆发和禁酒令使这个德国移民家庭陷入了经济和社会困境,不过,盖泽尔一家设法渡过了难关,使年少的盖泽尔和他的妹妹玛妮得以拥有快乐的童年。
在斯普林菲尔德度过的童年成为盖泽尔一些作品的灵感来源,比如大象霍顿走在怒尔丛林的小溪边,这些小溪便是斯普林菲尔德河流的化身。
十几岁时,盖泽尔离开斯普林菲尔德,入读(美国)达特茅斯学院。其间他曾担任该校幽默杂志《杰克南瓜灯》的主编。但是,由于他和朋友们举行饮酒派对,违反了禁酒令和校规,因而他的主编生涯不得不提前结束,但他继续为该杂志投稿。他在作品上的署名为“苏斯博士”,这是盖泽尔的中间名,也是他母亲的娘家姓。
盖泽尔的父亲希望他成为一名大学教授。为了取悦父亲,他在大学毕业后继续到英国牛津大学深造。然而,厌倦学术研究的他决定放弃学业,游历欧洲。但在牛津大学读书的经历也不是一无是处,它的确为盖泽尔带来了一个机缘,让他遇见了同学海伦・帕尔默。她鼓励盖泽尔成为一名职业插画师,后来更成为了盖泽尔的第一任妻子。
回到美国后,盖泽尔开始以漫画为业。盖泽尔的一些早期作品发表在《周六晚邮报》及其他出版物上,但他早期职业生涯中的大部分作品是专门为标准石油公司创作的广告插***,这份工作他做了超过十五年。
二战期间,盖泽尔把重点转向了***治漫画。他为纽约的《PM》日报画过四百多幅漫画。1943年,盖泽尔被征入美***担任漫画部指挥官,其间他制作了一系列***队训练影片。在美国陆***电影第一分部工作时,他首次接触到动画艺术。
就在盖泽尔继续为《生活》、《名利场》、《判断》等杂志投稿时,维京出版社向他提出了一份工作合约,请他为一本叫《糗大了》的儿童格言录绘制插***。虽然这本书没有取得商业上的成功,但盖泽尔的插***却大获好评,为他赢得了进***儿童文学界的首次“重大突破”。然而,由他编写和制作插***的第一本***书《桑树街漫游记》的出版过程却漫长而曲折――此书整整被拒绝了27次,才最终得以在先锋出版社出版。
1954年,霍顿・米夫林出版集团***主任威廉・埃尔斯沃斯・斯波尔丁主动联系盖泽尔,请他仅使用威廉认为对一年级学生非常重要的250个词来写一本书。这个创意源于《生活》杂志上的一篇报告,该报告称,由于儿童读物非常枯燥乏味,导致儿童无法学会阅读。结果,盖泽尔仅用236个词就写成了《戴帽子的猫》――此书完美地融合了盖泽尔的诗句韵律、绘画技巧和想象力。这本书与其他为孩子创作的***书一道风靡国内外,获得了巨大成功。
1967年,盖泽尔的第一任妻子去世后,他娶了奥德丽・斯通・戴蒙德为妻。她不仅影响了他后来的书,而且以苏斯博士事业集团***的身份,守卫着盖泽尔留下的遗产。
到他去世(1991年9月24日)的时候,盖泽尔一共写了六十多本书,其中大多数都以他为人熟知的笔名“苏斯博士”出版。但除此之外,他也以“西奥・莱西希”为名写过十多本书,另有一本署名为“罗塞塔・斯通”。盖泽尔的书多次荣登畅销书榜首,销量超过六百万册,并被译为二十多种语言。
Fun Facts About Dr. Seuss
There are so far four major[主要的] motion pictures[电影] based on Dr. Seuss books. These include How the Grinch Stole Christmas (2002), The Cat in the Hat (2003), Horton Hears a Who (2008), and The Lorax (2012). These movies all had big stars like Jim Carrey, Steve Carrell, and Mike Myers.
There is a Dr. Seuss National Memorial[纪念物] Sculpture[雕塑] Garden in Springfield, Massachusetts.
He never had any children of his own.
He wrote Green Eggs and Ham based on the bet that he couldn’t write a book using less than 50 words.
His first book, The Cat in the Hat, is still his most popular.