Dr. Seuss (Theodor Seuss Geisel) entered this world on March 2, 1904. Best-known and loved for his colorful children’s rhymes, he may have been inspired by his mother, Henrietta Seuss Geisel, who often soothed her children to sleep with rhymes from her childhood. Dr. Seuss’ stories also echo his childhood. For example, illustrations in Horton the Elephant allude to the meandering watercourses in Springfield’s Forest Park; and the truck driven by Sylvester McMonkey McBean in “The Sneetches” may have been modeled after the Knox tractor of Dr. Seuss’ hometown. Dr. Seuss’ first book, “And to Think That I Saw It on Mulberry Street,” is also filled with references to Springfield. According to the Dr. Seuss National Memorial organization, the book includes “a look-alike of Mayor Fordis Parker on the reviewing stand, and police officers riding red motorcycles, the traditional color of Springfield’s famed Indian Motorcycles.”

As a Dartmouth College student, Dr. Seuss was editor-in-chief of the Jack-O-Lantern, one of the school’s humorous magazines. Post-college, he continued on to England’s Oxford University, where he met and married classmate Helen Palmer.

Upon his return to the United States, Dr. Seuss intended to be a cartoonist, penning pieces for The Saturday Evening Post, Life, Vanity Fair, and other magazines. He also created advertising campaigns for Standard Oil and contributed weekly political cartoons to PM magazine, a liberal publication, during World War II. Soon after, he was contracted by Viking Press to illustrate a collection of children’s sayings. While response to the book was lukewarm, the illustrations were well-received, encouraging Dr. Seuss to pursue children’s books. Success was not immediate, however. His first book, “And To Think That I Saw It On Mulberry Street” was rejected 27 times before being published by Vanguard Press.

“The Cat in the Hat” was developed as a joint venture between Houghton Mifflin (Vanguard Press) and Random House. As part of the venture, Dr. Seuss was commissioned to write and illustrate a children’s primer using only 225 new-reader vocabulary words.

Dr. Seuss died on September 24, 1991. During his life, he wrote and illustrated 44 children’s books. His books have been translated into more than 15 languages with over 200 million copies printed. According to the Dr. Seuss National Memorial, his numerous honors include two Academy awards, two Emmy awards, a Peabody award and the Pulitzer Prize.