And To Think That I Saw It On Mulberry Street

I love Dr. Seuss! He is one of my favorite authors. True, I don’t read his work often anymore, although I still have some of his books on the bottom shelf with other children’s books that I can’t let go.

I read Dr. Seuss books to my children when they were young so many years ago; The Cat in the Hat, Green Eggs and Ham, Oh, The Places You’ll Go, Fox in Socks, How the Grinch Stole Christmas, and many other books of his. And then I read them to my grandchildren and recently to a great-granddaughter.

 

Theodor Seuss Geisel, known to the world as Dr. Seuss, was born in 1904 in Springfield, Mass.His father and grandfather were brewmasters. His mother used to chant rhymes she remembered from her youth (I’m thinking maybe nursery rhymes) to her children when she put them to bed. Ted credited his mother with his ability and desire to create the rhymes for his books.

Ted left Springfield as a teenager to attend Dartmouth College. He became editor-in-chief of the Jack-O-Lantern, Dartmouth’s humor magazine, but when he and his friends were caught having a drinking party, which was against prohibition laws and school policy, he was ousted as editor-in-chief. However, he continued to contribute to the magazine using the pseudonym of “Seuss” which was his mother’s maiden name and his middle name, too.

His father wanted him to be a college professor, so he went to Oxford University in England, but he found academic studies boring and decided to tour Europe instead. However, Oxford was where he met Helen Palmer, who was a children’s author and book editor. She would become his first wife. When he returned to the United States, Ted began to pursue a career as a cartoonist. Although some magazines published his early pieces, most of his early career was devoted to creating advertising for Standard Oil. Later he focused on political cartoons and then made U.S. Army training movies. Viking Press offered him a contract to produce a collection of children’s sayings called Boners. The book didn’t sell well, but his illustrations got great reviews.

Our door won first prize in the door contest that year.

His first book that he both wrote and illustrated was And to Think That I Saw It on Mulberry Street. The illustrations were of streets and people in Springfield where he grew up. The book went through 27 rejections before being published by Vanguard Press.  

One year when I was still teaching, our school had a Dr. Seuss Door Contest. I chose his first book, and after reading it to my students, I asked them to write poems with the title “And to Think That I Saw It on Bancroft Street”. What I particularly liked about this book is that it encourages a child to use his/her imagination. My students came through with many imaginative poems, but the following was one of the best.

                                                          I saw a large truck

                                                          hooked to a bike

                                                          with a boy on it

                                                          that I seemed to like.

                                                          The boy was attached

                                                          to a man with a flute,

                                                          the man was hooked to

                                                          a small puny newt.

                                                          So that’s what I saw.

                                                          It was pretty neat,

                                                          And to think that that I saw

                                                          It on Bancroft Street.

-          John Franks

In 1967 Ted’s first wife died, and after that he married an old friend, Audrey Stone Geisel. She  influenced his later books, and now guards his legacy as the president of Dr. Seuss Enterprises.

From the time he wrote And To Think That I Saw It On Mulberry Street until his death on September 24, 1991, he wrote and illustrated 44 children’s books. His books have been translated into more than 15 languages. Over 200 million copies found their way into hearts and homes throughout the world. Besides the books, there were eleven children’s TV specials, a Broadway musical and a feature-length movie with other motion pictures in the works. His honors include two Academy awards, two Emmy awards, a Peabody award and the Pulitzer Prize.

I think I’ll go now and dig out some of those books I’ve saved and read them again.

What is your favorite Dr. Seuss book?