In a demonstration of loyalty to his German-American family during World War I, 14-year-old Ted Geisel emerged as one of Springfield’s foremost war bond sellers. At an event where he was to receive personal recognition from former President Theodore Roosevelt, Ted found himself in an embarrassing situation. Despite being the last of 10 Boy Scouts scheduled to receive awards, only nine medals were available. When Roosevelt reached Ted, he gruffly questioned his presence, causing embarrassment for the young Geisel. This incident left a lasting impact on Dr. Seuss, who harbored a fear of public appearances for the remainder of his life.

While it might not have resembled a scene from “Animal House,” the night before Easter in 1925 saw Dartmouth College senior Ted Geisel caught by the local police chief, reveling with friends and a pint of bootleg gin. This escapade led to Geisel’s ousting as editor-in-chief of the Dartmouth humor magazine by the dean. Undeterred, Geisel employed what he termed a “corny subterfuge,” continuing to produce cartoons under various pseudonyms, including “Seuss” and “T. Seuss.” It was only a few years later that he adopted the “Dr.” title, solidifying his iconic persona.

Before rising to fame as a children’s author, Dr. Seuss found early success crafting witty advertisements for Flit, a bug spray produced by Standard Oil. His creations, including the iconic catchphrase “Quick, Henry, the Flit!”, became ingrained in popular culture. Beyond Flit, he lent his creative touch to advertising campaigns for esteemed clients like Ford Motor Company, NBC, and Narragansett Brewing Company. Even within the realm of commercial work, Dr. Seuss’s whimsical imagination flourished, introducing a zany array of creatures like the “Moto-raspus” and “Karbo-nockus,” who starred in Essolube motor oil advertisements.

Following the discouragement of receiving rejection after rejection, Dr. Seuss found himself on the brink of discarding his first manuscript as he trudged along the sidewalks of New York. Intent on burning the book in his apartment’s incinerator, fate intervened on Madison Avenue. There, he unexpectedly encountered his Dartmouth friend Mike McClintock, who had recently taken up a position as an editor in the children’s section at Vanguard Press. In a whirlwind turn of events, a contract was swiftly signed, and in 1937, Vanguard Press published “And to Think that I Saw It on Mulberry Street,” marking the auspicious beginning of Dr. Seuss’s illustrious literary journey. Reflecting on the chance encounter, he later mused, “If I had been going down the other side of Madison Avenue, I’d be in the dry-cleaning business today.”

As Nazi forces advanced into Paris in 1940, Dr. Seuss felt a profound sense of duty to oppose American isolationism, particularly targeting aviation hero Charles Lindbergh. He expressed his shift in focus, stating, “I found that I could no longer keep my mind on drawing pictures of Horton The Elephant. I found myself drawing pictures of Lindbergh The Ostrich.” Over the span of 1940 to 1942, Geisel produced more than 400 editorial cartoons for the liberal newspaper “PM,” skewering both isolationists at home and the Axis powers abroad. Among these works were depictions of Japanese leaders utilizing stereotypes and inflammatory imagery, as well as xenophobic portrayals of Japanese Americans as disloyal.

In 1943, Captain Theodor Geisel answered the call of duty, joining director Frank Capra’s Signal Corps. Assigned to produce animated training films, booklets, and documentaries, Geisel collaborated with renowned Warner Bros. animation directors Chuck Jones and Friz Freleng. Together, they crafted cartoons featuring Private Snafu, a hapless GI whose antics served as cautionary tales for enlisted men. Despite General Douglas MacArthur’s suppression of his training film “Our Job in Japan,” Dr. Seuss and his wife, Helen, repurposed it into a screenplay for the 1947 documentary “Design for Death,” which received an Academy Award.

Helen Geisel grappled with partial paralysis stemming from Guillain-Barré syndrome for over a decade. Struggling with deteriorating health and potentially compounded by suspicions of her husband’s affair with a close friend who later became his second wife, Helen tragically took her own life in October 1967 at the age of 69. Her suicide note conveyed a deep sense of dependency and despair, stating, “I am too old and enmeshed in everything you do and are, that I cannot conceive of life without you.” She added, “My going will leave quite a rumor, but you can say I was overworked and overwrought. Your reputation with your friends and fans will not be harmed.”

Helen Geisel faced infertility, and although Dr. Seuss did not have biological children with his second wife Audrey, he embraced the role of stepfather to her two daughters. When questioned about his ability to connect with children despite not having his own, Dr. Seuss often humorously replied, “You have ’em, and I’ll entertain ’em,” encapsulating his dedication to entertaining and captivating young audiences through his imaginative stories and illustrations.

In March 2021, Dr. Seuss Enterprises made the decision to cease the publication of six of Dr. Seuss’s books, including titles like “And to Think That I Saw It on Mulberry Street” and “If I Ran the Zoo.” This action was taken due to concerns about the presence of racially insensitive imagery within the pages. In a statement, the company explained, “These books portray people in ways that are hurtful and wrong.” They emphasized their commitment to ensuring that their catalog represents and supports all communities and families, stating that discontinuing the sales of these books was just one part of their broader plan.

The iconic author adopted the title “Dr. Seuss” during his college years with the intention of garnering greater respect for his writing and lending it more credibility.

When challenged by his publisher to craft a book utilizing only 50 different words, Dr. Seuss embarked on the creation of a tale centered around a picky eater—an experience familiar to many young readers. This story follows the protagonist as they navigate through a world of vibrant and tempting food choices, all of which are met with staunch refusal.

Despite the collaboration between Dr. Seuss and animation legend Chuck Jones, the movie, which has since become a beloved family holiday classic, initially faced criticism from critics at Variety.

The mischievous plot of “The Cat in the Hat” was sparked by Dr. Seuss’s disdain for what he perceived as the dullness and simplicity of the Dick and Jane book series. Rather than adhering to the conventional approach of imparting morality lessons, Dr. Seuss embraced the chaos, infusing his titular cat with a sense of irreverence and mischief.

While Dr. Seuss may have been among the first to use the term “nerd,” in “If I Ran the Zoo,” its meaning was vastly different from its contemporary connotation. Rather than denoting a brainy individual, the “nerd” in the book was depicted as a white-haired, red-and-yellow “sourpuss.”

In 1939, Dr. Seuss published “The Seven Lady Godivas: The True Facts Concerning History’s Barest Family,” which featured semi-nude drawings of women. However, the book failed to achieve success, a disappointment Dr. Seuss attributed to his inability to render the ladies “sexy” enough.

He revisited the adult audience in 1986 with “You’re Only Old Once,” a humorous exploration of the experiences and challenges of aging.

Dr. Seuss’s family life took an unconventional path: his first wife was unable to conceive, and his second wife already had two children from a previous relationship. Interestingly, despite his profession as a beloved children’s author, Dr. Seuss was wary of real-life little ones due to their unpredictable nature.

However, he delighted in playful banter with friends who boasted about their own children. He would jestingly join in by inventing fictional offspring of his own. Notably, he would speak of his imaginary daughter, “Chrysanthemum Pearl,” whom he whimsically claimed could whip up “the most delicious oyster stew with chocolate frosting and flaming Roman candles.”

Similar to the whimsical cat in his renowned book, Dr. Seuss harbored a fondness for hats and maintained an extensive collection tucked away in a hidden section of his home. It’s been reported that he possessed over 300 hats at one stage in his life, a testament to his fascination with headgear.

Indeed, the imaginative mind behind countless beloved characters surely had an entertaining response to one of the most frequently asked questions he received:

“I get all my ideas in Switzerland near the Forka Pass. There is a little town called Gletch, and two thousand feet up above Gletch there is a smaller hamlet called Über Gletch. I go there on the fourth of August every summer to get my cuckoo clock fixed. While the cuckoo is in the hospital, I wander around and talk to the people in the streets. They are very strange people, and I get my ideas from them.”

Dr. Seuss’s father, Theodor Robert Geisel, led an intriguing life journey. Born in 1879, he initially pursued a career as a brewmaster and gained recognition as a skilled marksman on an international level. However, with the advent of Prohibition in 1920, Geisel transitioned into a different profession, assuming the role of superintendent at Forest Park in Springfield, Massachusetts. In this capacity, he managed various aspects of the park, including its onsite zoo. Dr. Seuss fondly recalled his father’s influence, noting, “That zoo is where I learned whatever I know about animals.”

Dr. Seuss, also known as Geisel, exhibited his unique creativity through a series of sculpted busts of fictional creatures. These whimsical artworks, including the Mulberry Street unicorn and the “carbonic walrus,” were crafted using body parts sourced from exotic animals that had passed away at his father’s zoo. Dr. Seuss humorously labeled this unconventional form of taxidermy as “Unorthodox Taxidermy,” showcasing his penchant for blending imagination with unconventional artistry.

At Dartmouth, Theodor Seuss Geisel, known as Dr. Seuss, humorously signed a cartoon as “Thomas Mott Osborne.” Thomas Mott Osborne was indeed a real-life figure, known as the warden of the Sing Sing prison in New York. This playful gesture reflects Dr. Seuss’s penchant for whimsy and humor, even in his early years as a cartoonist.

Fresh out of Dartmouth, Theodor Seuss Geisel pursued further studies at the University of Oxford, aspiring to obtain a Ph.D. in English Literature. During his time at Oxford, he crossed paths with his future first wife, Helen Marion Palmer, who was also a student there. Helen observed Geisel’s penchant for doodling intricate and imaginative creatures in his notebooks during lectures. Recognizing his talent, she encouraged him to pursue a career in drawing and illustration. Despite her efforts, Geisel departed from Oxford in 1927 before completing his degree.

Dr. Seuss’s inaugural children’s book, “And to Think That I Saw It on Mulberry Street,” made its debut in 1937. The manuscript faced numerous rejections before editor Marshall “Mike” McClintock at Vanguard Press finally accepted it. Geisel’s recollections of the rejection process vary, with estimates ranging from 20 to 43 publishers declining the manuscript. McClintock, who had known Geisel since their time at Dartmouth, played a pivotal role in bringing the book to publication. To express his gratitude, Geisel named the main character of the book after McClintock’s son, Marco.

Before embarking on “The Cat in the Hat,” Dr. Seuss entertained the idea of crafting a children’s book centered on the adventurous journey of climbing Mount Everest in subzero temperatures. He envisioned it as a gripping and exhilarating read for children, aiming to offer an alternative to the monotonous Dick and Jane texts prevalent in schools at the time. However, when he presented the concept to a publisher, he was met with the restriction that he couldn’t incorporate certain words like “Everest,” “scaling,” “peaks,” or “degrees.” The publisher expressed concern that young readers wouldn’t be familiar with or understand these terms.

The dedication to the 1947 book “McElligot’s Pool” reads: “This book is dedicated to T.R. Geisel of Springfield, Mass., The World’s Greatest Authority on Blackfish, Fiddler Crabs, and Deegel Trout.” This dedication pays homage to Theodor Seuss Geisel’s father, who, during a seemingly uneventful fishing trip with his son, purchased trout from the Deegel Hatchery before their return. Upon their arrival home, the elder Geisel amusingly boasted to their neighbors that they had caught the fish themselves, illustrating a humorous family anecdote that found its way into Dr. Seuss’s literary works.

The term “boner” had a different connotation when the books were originally published. In 1931, Viking Press released “Boner,” a short collection featuring amusingly inaccurate statements made by schoolchildren. For instance, one child hilariously surmised that “The people of Moscow are called Mosquitoes.” Dr. Seuss, hired by Viking Press, provided original cartoons to complement these witty one-liners. The success of the first book led to the publication of three sequels, including “More Boners,” all of which were illustrated by Dr. Seuss. Eventually, these volumes were compiled into one volume titled “The Pocket Book of Boners.”

“Kids gag at having morals crammed down their throats,” Dr. Seuss candidly expressed to The Saturday Evening Post in 1965. He acknowledged that despite children’s aversion to overt moral lessons, every story inherently carries some moral or lesson due to its dramatic nature. However, Dr. Seuss clarified that he never set out with the intention of proving a point in his stories, except for one deliberate exception: “Yertle the Turtle,” which he described as a deliberate parable of the life of Hitler.

When “The Lorax” was first published in 1971, Lake Erie was a national symbol of environmental degradation. Rampant phosphorous pollution had triggered extensive algal blooms, leading to mass fish die-offs and a grim reputation for the lake. In early editions of “The Lorax,” the titular character mentions the eviction of native humming fish from a polluted pond and remarks, “I hear things are just as bad up in Lake Erie.”

Fifteen years later, Rosanne Fortner, an environmental education coordinator at The Ohio State University, reached out to Dr. Seuss. She informed him of the significant progress made in cleaning up Lake Erie since the book’s publication. At her request, Dr. Seuss removed all references to Lake Erie in later printings of the book.

The logistics of responding to the overwhelming volume of letters from young fans fell to the publishing company, which took on the task directly. Given the sheer number of letters, Dr. Seuss himself couldn’t possibly respond to each one personally. Instead, Random House sent out standardized notes bearing his autograph. These notes expressed gratitude to the children for writing to Dr. Seuss but playfully informed them that he resided on a high mountain peak and relied on a slow-moving animal called a Budget to deliver his mail. To add to the whimsy, the note mentioned that the Budget was driven by a creature called a “Nudget,” injecting a touch of Dr. Seuss’s trademark imagination into the correspondence.