Theodor Seuss Geisel is more commonly known as Dr. Seuss, and his work has become a basic part of childhood for kids all over the United States. Not many people are aware of his legacy of education – to teach early learners via silly words. His body of work is incredibly expansive as he published several children’s books and various pieces of artwork.
Dr. Seuss published his first children’s book in 1937, titled “And to Think That I Saw It on Mulberry Street.” He came up with the idea for the book while returning from an overseas vacation onboard a ship in 1936. That book probably never would have been published had Dr. Seuss not bumped into a friend who had just become a children’s book editor at a publishing house, Vanguard Press, which later merged with Random House. Geisel told the friend that he had given up on his book, but the editor asked to have a look anyway and went on to publish the book. The book tells the story of a boy named Marco whose father tells him to look for interesting sights on his way to school. Marco envisions a delightful series of imaginary characters and vehicles on Mulberry Street.
The Importance of Silly Words
Dr. Seuss published over 60 different children’s books, and his work often involved him making up new words, some of which have actually become part of the common lexicon. For example, “How the Grinch Stole Christmas!” introduced us to the term “grinch,” which has since been widely used to describe people who dampen the pleasure in celebratory settings. Other terms coined by Dr. Seuss include “zummers,” “spazzim,” and “wumbus.” The imagined words Dr. Seuss used incorporated seamlessly into his book’s rhyming schemes. Dr. Seuss’ legacy on education taught us that it’s okay to be playful with words and to experiment with language.
Legacy of education – Dr. Seuss
Dr Seuss’s legacy on education is different than traditional teachers. Schoolteachers have long relied on the “Dick and Jane” series of books to teach children how to read. That changed when the head of Houghton Mifflin’s educational division challenged Geisel to write a story that first-graders wouldn’t be able to put down. The result was the famous “Cat in the Hat.”
Dr. Seuss’ legacy on education – Visting places
Near Grand Rapids, there’s a city in Michigan that Dr. Seuss is fond of because of the silliness of its name. In April 2019, Booth Newspapers reported that the city of Hudsonville in Michigan became Whoville for a month when a touring exhibit of Dr. Seuss art, including statues of the Cat in the Hat, the Grinch, the Lorax, and Sam-I-Am, were placed at City Hall for a month. The Lorax tree from “The Lorax” is actually found in Scripps Park near where Dr. Seuss lived in La Jolla outside of San Diego. Similarly, the Victorian Hotel del Coronado, the inspiration for the Seuss piece of artwork, “I Dreamed I Was a Doorman at the Hotel del Coronado” is south of San Diego in Coronado.
Dr. Seuss began as a cartoonist, and his first book was rejected 27 times before finally being published by Vanguard Press in 1937. His books have remained enormously popular because of his artwork and wordplay, with multiple books being turned into full-length feature films. His legacy of education is based on engagement and entertainment first.
Looking for something new to read? Check out our kid-written and kid-illustrated book: Animal Superheroes of the Arty Kids. It follows a lot of Dr. Seuss’ legacy on education.