“If you’d never been born, then you might be an Isn’t!
An Isn’t has no fun at all. No, he disn’t.”
Born on 2nd March 1904, in the United States, Theodor Seuss Geisel, also known commonly as Dr. Seuss, an acclaimed American author of children’s literature, came up with words, style, and a voice of his own, that was fairly distinct and original for its time.
As visible in the above-mentioned quote/excerpt of his, the thought and the underlying idea is simple and sweet and adorably innocent. Words dance, play, smirk, and sing. A rhythm is born. Smile follows.
Seuss’ mother read to him throughout his childhood, he grew up to become an advertising professional, and soon forayed his way into literature with a terrific debut ‘And to think that I saw it on Mulberry Street’.
His beautiful bibliography includes the titles – ‘Horton hatches the Egg’, ‘The Cat in the Hat’, ‘How the Grinch Stole Christmas’, ‘Green Eggs and ham’, ‘The Sneetches and other stories’, ‘Hop on Pop’, ‘Fox in socks’, ‘The Lorax’, ‘The butter battle book’, ‘I am not going to get up today’, ‘Oh the places you will go”, etc.
Seuss wrote over 60 books with numerous translations to his name widely published across the globe. With millions of copy sales over the years and decades, he is a one-of-a-kind bestseller in the history of children’s literature.
The ideas of identity, uniqueness, environmentalism, and humanity in general often made it to his writings. He wrote with tender empathy and made his readers feel a similar range of emotions.
Sketches, drawings, with smart usage of colors, with complementary poetic meters, Seuss invented words and phrases of his own, kept things simple and minimalist, and engaged his young readers with fun rhyme schemes and a breezy jingle-like vibe.
“When you think things are bad,
when you feel sour and blue,
when you start to get mad
you should do what I do!
Just tell yourself, Duckie,
you’re really quite lucky!
Some people are much more
oh, ever so much more
oh, muchly much-much more
unlucky than you!”
The poetic piece leaves a kid with a strong sense of optimism, while also introducing the idea of how one should be grateful and content with whatever has come their way. The world is simple if we keep our perspectives in check. And it doesn’t take much to seek joy and be at peace with ourselves.
Seuss’ legacy lives on with countless adaptations of his work in the form of short films, feature films, series, and television productions. And needless to say, his books are passed on from one generation over to the next. With love and care.
“I like nonsense, it wakes up the brain cells. Fantasy is a necessary ingredient in living, it’s a way of looking at life through the wrong end of a telescope. Which is what I do, and that enables you to laugh at life’s realities.”
Keep laughing, keep smiling, keep reading, keep rhyming!
)
)
)
)
)
)
)
)
)
)