Theodor Seuss Geisel (1904-1991), American author and artist, who wrote popular children’s books under the pen name Dr. Seuss. Known for his inventive rhyming and nonsense words, Geisel sold millions of books that entertained generations of children while helping them learn to read.

Theodor Seuss Geisel was born in Springfield, Massachusetts, to parents who were German immigrants. Seuss was his mother’s maiden name. Geisel studied English literature at Dartmouth College, where he wrote for and edited the school’s humor magazine. It was in this publication that he first began using simply the name Seuss. He graduated from Dartmouth in 1925 and went on to study at the University of Oxford, intending to become an English professor. But a classmate—who later became Geisel’s wife—saw him doodling in a class and suggested he become an artist instead.

A self-taught sketch artist, Geisel earned a living as a cartoonist and commercial artist for almost a decade after college. In 1937, using the name Dr. Seuss, he wrote and illustrated his first children's book, And to Think That I Saw It on Mulberry Street. With its simple rhymed text and whimsical tone, the book was an instant success. Geisel followed it up with works such as The 500 Hats of Bartholomew Cubbins (1938), The King's Stilts (1939), and Horton Hatches the Egg (1940), the story of an elephant duped by a bird to sit on her egg.

During World War II (1939-1945) Geisel drew cartoons and wrote films supporting the war effort. He returned to writing children's books with McElligot's Pool (1947) and for the next several decades produced about 40 books in all, including such perennial favorites as If I Ran the Zoo (1950), Horton Hears a Who! (1954), How the Grinch Stole Christmas! (1957), The Cat in the Hat (1957), Green Eggs and Ham (1960), Fox in Socks (1965), the environmentally conscious The Lorax (1971), and the nuclear-war-related work The Butter Battle (1984). Throughout his career he also used the name Theo. LeSieg (Geisel spelled backwards) for books he wrote that were illustrated by others.

Although he never received the Caldecott Medal for children’s picture books, Geisel was given a special Pulitzer Prize citation in 1984 for his lifetime contribution to the education and enjoyment of America's children and their parents. His last books published during his lifetime—You're Only Old Once (1986) and Oh, the Places You'll Go! (1990)—were written for adult audiences.

Geisel also worked as writer and artist for films and animated works. He won an Academy Award for writing Design for Death, a 1947 documentary about the Japanese people, and four years later he earned another Oscar for the animated cartoon Gerald McBoing Boing. How the Grinch Stole Christmas! was turned into a popular television special in 1966, although it was drawn by famed animator Chuck Jones rather than Geisel. He also received Emmy Awards for the television specials Halloween is Grinch Night (1977) and The Grinch Grinches the Cat in the Hat (1982). The Seuss book Daisy-Head Mayzie was published posthumously in 1995 using sketches and dialogues he had created for an animated television special.

How the Grinch Stole Christmas, a live-action motion picture directed by Ron Howard and starring Jim Carrey, was released in 2000. A live-action Hollywood film version of The Cat in the Hat followed three years later. Many of Geisel’s books have also been published as CD-ROMs and in video and audio versions.

Other works published after Geisel’s death include The Secret Art of Dr. Seuss (1995), a collection of his paintings; My Many Colored Days (1996), a children’s book he originally wrote in the 1970s but did not illustrate; Hooray for Diffendoofer Day! (1998), a book by children’s writer Jack Prelutsky and illustrator Lane Smith based on sketches and text produced by Geisel; Dr. Seuss Goes to War (1999), a book of his World War II-era cartoons; Gerald McBoing Boing (2000); and All Aboard the Circus McGurkus (2004), a nursery rhyme book.

See also Children’s Literature.