Becoming Dr. Seuss

March 25, 2019
Biographer Jones (George Lucas) delivers a comprehensive and thoughtful look at famed children’s author Theodor Geisel (1904–1991). The book’s early sections reveal Geisel—Seuss was his mother’s maiden name—as an indifferent student who found his calling in humor and drawing, moving from Dartmouth College’s Jacko magazine, to advertising, to Frank Capra’s Army information unit during WWII. Though he entered children’s literature on a fluke—an otherwise restrictive contract with advertising client Standard Oil didn’t bar him from it—he soon became convinced of this work’s importance. Determined to make reading fun and never talk down to children, he produced his now-familiar classics, with their zany illustrations and tongue-tickling texts. In addition to the fun, however, Geisel did feel compelled to address important issues at times, such as environmentalism in The Lorax. Jones does not ignore problems in Geisel’s early work, including some racial stereotypes. He also gives full credit to Geisel’s first wife, Helen, as a guiding hand for some of Geisel’s best-loved books. While acknowledging Geisel’s flaws and debts to others, Jones convincingly shows him as a transformative figure in children’s publishing, both as author and cofounder of the Beginner Books imprint. Fans of Dr. Seuss will find much to love in this candid but admiring portrait.

Starred review from May 1, 2019

Jones (George Lucas) gets it right in this delightful and informative biography, which details how the widely admired Dr. Seuss emerged from the lesser-known but talented Theodor Geisel (1904-91). The American cartoonist and author's first step toward fame was an ad campaign for a bug spray, but it was his best-selling children's books, especially The Cat in the Hat and Green Eggs and Ham, that made him a household name. Jones notes how Geisel could be a pleasant companion but also a pain in the neck. The near-constant warfare between the artist and Phyllis Cerf (wife of Random House publisher Bennett Cerf) over almost all details of any work published in their Beginner Books line makes for fascinating reading. Jones gives careful attention to the death of Geisel's first wife, Helen, who took her life in 1961, at age 69. A year later he married film producer Audrey Stone, with whom he lived until his death 23 years later, writing and drawing almost to the very end. VERDICT This attractive biography should be on the bedside reading table of thousands of Dr. Seuss lovers, and deservedly so.--David Keymer, Cleveland

Copyright 2019 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

May 1, 2019
No, Dr. Seuss did not live on Mulberry Street! Instead, when he was young, Theodor (he dropped the e for some reason) Seuss Geisel resided two miles south on Fairfield Street in Springfield, Massachusetts. Now, more than 100 years later, we have this massive, loving biography, which aims to cover it all: childhood influences on his adult work; his Dartmouth experience; his ad-man years ( Quick, Henry, the FLIT! ), the tepid success of his first five children's books; and the spectacular successes of his later years. Don't expect a lot of critical analysis, though. Jones is more interested in straight reportage. But what about recent Twitterverse allegations that Geisel was a racist? To his credit, Jones acknowledges Geisel's employment of some racial stereotypes in his children's books and editorial cartoons for the newspaper PM, and his lack of female characters. What is not addressed is the current charge that the depiction of The Cat in the Hat was inspired by nineteenth-century minstrel shows. History will be the judge of that, but this biography stands as a straightforward record of Geisel's life and career.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2019, American Library Association.)

Starred review from March 15, 2019
A rich, anecdotal biography of one of the bestselling authors in publishing history.Theodor Seuss Geisel (1904-1991), aka Dr. Seuss, created more than 60 books, classified mostly as readers for children. However, as Jones (George Lucas: A Life, 2016, etc.) points out in this engaging, page-turning work of Seuss scholarship, Geisel was writing and illustrating for children and adults simultaneously. Some of his books could be considered in the vanguard of activism about environmental degradation (The Lorax), nuclear war (The Butter Battle Book), and an increasingly geriatric society (You're Only Old Once and Oh, the Places You'll Go). During his Massachusetts childhood and education at Dartmouth and then Oxford, Geisel developed his talent for drawing comic figures; early in his career, he earned his livelihood as a creator of advertisements for commercial products, including an insecticide. The shift to writing books for children occurred gradually, surprising almost everybody, including Geisel himself, who never had children. Used to being perceived as a funny guy, Geisel evolved into a serious thinker about how to develop books that would encourage children to read while also enjoying the learning process. Jones is particularly masterful in this vein, showing how Geisel, his wife, filmmaker/publisher Bennett Cerf, and other key collaborators collectively revolutionized reading education, with Dr. Seuss always reserving the final say. "Nearly thirty years after his death," writes the author, "books by Dr. Seuss still sell as well and as fast as ever, rivaled only by the Harry Potter books by the brilliant J.K. Rowling--Geisel's natural heir, as she reignited the same love for books in today's young readers that Dr. Seuss had first sparked...fifty years earlier." Though the narrative is strictly chronological, it never bogs down because the character sketches and publishing anecdotes are so well-rendered, and Jones is especially skillful with foreshadowing. Although sometimes exasperating to work with because of his exacting standards, Geisel comes across as a mostly kind, well-intentioned person.Whether readers are familiar with Dr. Seuss books or not, they will find this biography absorbing and fascinating.

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