The Early Life of Seuss! Theodor Seuss Geisel was born in Springfield, Massachusetts on March 2nd, 1904. He was the only son of Theodor and Henrietta Geisel. He had two sisters, Margaretha, who was two years older than Theodor, and Henrietta. Henrietta died of pneumonia before she reached two years of age (Ford, 2003). Ted, short for Theodor, was from German descent. His parents immigrated from southern Germany to America. Upon arriving to America, the Geisels’ ran a bakery in Springfield, where Ted was later born (Ford, 2003). Although his mother Henrietta was always interested in attending college, she was unable to do so because she was needed to work in the bakery. Since she was incapable of going to college herself, she was determined to ensure that her own children would make it that far. She constantly read to her children, often with bedtime stories (Ford, 2003). Ted’s father, Theodor Sr., helped manage the brewery his father owned as well as worked as a member of the parks board in Springfield. He took Ted to Forest Park, a park that encompassed a zoo near the Geisel’s home, as frequently as he could. For more information on Forest Park, visit their website at http://www.forestparkzoo.org/. Ted liked to bring a sketchpad with him in order to draw sketches of the animals he saw. He was never a typical artist; he preferred to take features of one animal and attach them to another (Ford, 2003). “The creatures he drew had ears nine feet long. His horses had wings. His cows could fly as well. His animals looked like plants. His plants looked like animals” (Krull, 2004). Ted was always seen with artistic instruments such as crayons and pencils. He used his family’s attic as a personal canvas, drawing animals on the walls. He was never scolded for his drawings, but rather encouraged and supported by his mother (Ford, 2003). Throughout Geisel’s years as an artist, it is said that there are three separate phases of his drawing style. These phases include the early Seussian style where his stylistic influences are there but are not yet synthesized, the classic Seussian style that involves his most notable style of drawing where his loopy sense of line goes without rules throughout the pages, and the later Seussian style where there are bumpier lines and more irregular quality (Nel, 2004).
  |
 
Along with drawing, Ted was fascinated with reading. Instead of using candy or toys as a form of bribing, Henrietta would buy him books of his choice when he went to piano lessons or did something he would not otherwise be happy to do. Along with drawing, reading, and writing, Ted was fond of playing the mandolin, banjo, and being in school plays. He was very art- oriented. Overall, Ted’s childhood was a happy one (Ford, 2003). In 1918, Geisel endured an incident that would be remembered throughout his entire life. During World War I, many people had hostility toward people of German descent (Nel, 2004). To learn more about World War I, visit http://www.pbs.org/greatwar/. During this time, Ted was a member of Boy Scouts, and proving how patriotic he was, was one of the top ten sellers of war bonds as part of a fund-raiser (Ford, 2003). These ten boys had the chance to receive a medal from Theodore Roosevelt, the President at the time. This event was a very big deal. Thousands of people came to watch the event. Standing at the end of the line, Ted watched as the nine other top sellers receive their medal. When Ted was the last boy standing, Roosevelt realized that he ran out of medals. Looking at Ted, he asked loudly why he was there. This event began Ted Geisel’s fear of being in public (Ford, 2003). In high school, Ted took his first and only art class. When working on his art, he turned it upside down to finish the painting from his own perspective. At the time, Geisel was unaware of why he was doing this, but he later realized he was checking the balance of the art (Nel, 2004). The art teacher told him that is not what a true artist would do, it was breaking the rules, and that he had no artistic ability (Nel, 2004). Geisel went on to prove her wrong. Because of his favorite English teacher, Mr. Smith, he went on to attend Dartmouth College, the college in which Mr. Smith graduated from (Ford, 2003).
Website by Jordan Miller |
