Life Lessons by Dr. Seuss

There are a lot of books that have made an impact on my life growing up and into adulthood. One of my favorite authors, of all time, is Dr. Seuss. Dr. Seuss’s rhyming stories have followed me through life and have given me idioms to enjoy life to the fullest. Dr. Seuss has popped up in obscure places… Oh The Places You’ll Go! was read to us at high school graduation. When graduating with my master’s degree, one of my good friends sent me Seuss-isms! that is now sitting on the shelf in my office. And, I am probably one of the few 35+ year olds that can still recite most of Green Eggs and Ham from memory.

Having kids, of course, we introduced them to Dr. Seuss books early. This year, the twins are having “Dr. Seuss Week” to celebrate Dr. Seuss’ birthday on March 2nd. I thought it would be fun to do a little research on Dr. Seuss and find out more about him, as well as share some fun social media pictures you can share and a free Dr. Seuss printable that can be printed and framed! So, happy birthday Dr. Seuss!

Dr. Seuss was born March 2, 1904 in Springfield, Massachusetts. His real name was Thedor “Ted” Seuss Geisel. (Seuss was his mother’s maiden name.) Ted attended Darmouth College and was editor-in-chief of the college’s humor magazine. However, he was fired when, with his friends, he had a party with alcohol, which was against prohibition and school rules. This didn’t stop Ted – he continued to write for the magazine, but began signing his work “Seuss.”

After graduation, his father wanted him to become a college professor, so Ted attended Oxford University in England. But, studies bored him and instead he went on a European tour. Upon returning to the United States, Ted became a cartoonist with The Saturday Evening Post and other publications He also created advertising campaigns for Standard Oil for over 15 years! As World War II began, Ted contributed political cartoons to PM magazine. He also made training movies with Frank Capra’s Signal Corps. As part of these training movies, he created an animated trainee called Private Snafu which was his first animated character.

Dr. Seuss’ most well-known book is probably The Cat in the Hat and it is considered the book that defined him as a children’s author and illustrator. However, his first book, And to Think I Saw It on Mulberry Street was rejected almost 30 times before finally being published!

Ted died September 24, 1991. At his death, he had written and illustrated 44 children’s books – selling over 200 million copies and being translated into more than 15 languages! He was the recipient of two Academy awards, two Emmy awards, a Peabody and a Pulitzer Prize.

In honor of Dr. Seuss’ birthday week, I thought I would create some fun pictures with Dr. Seuss quotes that have resonated with me throughout my life and have always been in the back of my mind as defining who I am.

I have created three social media badges and a free printable for your enjoyment. The printable will print on an 8.5 x 11″ sheet, but will need to be trimmed to 8 x 10 if you will be framing it. As always, I encourage you to save these to your desktop first prior to sharing or printing to ensure they work properly.