Theodor Seuss Geisel， better known to the world as the beloved Dr. Seuss， was born in 1904 in Springfield， Massachusetts. Geisels father， Theodor Robert， and grandfather were brewmasters in the city. His mother， Henrietta Seuss Geisel， often soothed her children to sleep by repeating rhymes remembered from her youth. Geisel credited his mother to be his first inspiration.

Although the onset of World War I and Prohibition注presented both financial and social challenges for the German immigrants， the family managed to make it through， providing the young Geisel and his sister，Marnie， with happy childhoods.

His childhood in Springfield inspired some of his work， such as Horton the Elephant walking along streams in the Jungle of Nool， which mirror the waterways of the town.

Geisel left Springfield as a teenager to attend Dartmouth College， where he became editor-in-chief of the Jack-O-Lantern， Dartmouths humor magazine. His time as editor ended sooner than expected， however， when Geisel and his friends were caught throwing a drinking party， which was against the prohibition laws and school policy， but he continued to contribute to the magazine， signing his work “Seuss，” which was both Geisels middle name and his mothers maiden name.

To please his father， who wanted him to be a college professor， Geisel went on to Oxford University in England after graduation. However， his academic studies bored him， and he decided to tour Europe instead. Oxford did provide him the opportunity to meet a classmate， Helen Palmer， who encouraged him to become a professional illustrator and became his first wife.

After returning to the United States， Geisel began to pursue a career as a cartoonist. The Saturday Evening Post and other publications featured some of his early pieces， but most of Geisels activity during his early career was devoted to creating advertisements for Standard Oil， which he did for more than 15 years.

During World War II， Geisel turned his focus towards political cartoons. He drew more than 400 cartoons for New Yorks daily newspaper， PM. In 1943， Geisel enrolled in the US army as commander of the Animation Department. There he made a series of army training films. His work with the First Motion Picture Unit of the US Army introduced him to the art of animation.

While Geisel was continuing to contribute to Life， Vanity Fair， Judge and other magazines， Viking Press offered him a contract to illustrate a collection of childrens sayings called Boners. Although the book was not a commercial success， the illustrations received great reviews， providing Geisel with his first “big break” into childrens literature. However， getting the first book published that he both wrote and illustrated， And to Think That I Saw It on Mulberry Street， required a great degree of persistence—it was rejected 27 times before being published by Vanguard Press.

In 1954， Geisel was approached by William Ellsworth Spaulding， the director of the education division at Houghton Mifflin， to write a book using only 250 words which William thought were important for first grade students to learn. The idea was inspired by a report published in Life magazine， which said that children were unable to learn reading because their books were boring. Geisel， using 236 words， completed The Cat in the Hat—a perfect blend of Geisels verse rhythms， drawing skills and imaginative power. This book along with others written for your young children， were a huge success both on a national and international level.

After Geisels first wife died in 1967， he married Audrey Stone Dimond， who not only influenced his later books， but guards his legacy as the president of Dr. Seuss Enterprises.

At the time of his death on September 24th， 1991， Geisel wrote over 60 books. Though most were published under his well-known pseudonym， Dr. Seuss， he also authored over a dozen books as Theo LeSieg and one as Rosetta Stone. His books have topped many bestseller lists， sold over 600 million copies， and been translated into more than 20 languages.

西奧多·蘇斯·蓋澤爾——即眾所周知、廣受愛戴的蘇斯博士，于1904年出生于（美國）馬薩諸塞州斯普林菲爾德市。蓋澤爾的父親西奧多·羅伯特和祖父都是市里的釀酒師。他的母親漢麗埃塔·蘇斯·蓋澤爾常常哼著童年記憶中的歌謠哄孩子們睡覺。蓋澤爾將他最初的靈感歸功于他的母親。

第一次世界大戰(zhàn)的爆發(fā)和禁酒令使這個德國移民家庭陷入了經(jīng)濟和社會困境，不過，蓋澤爾一家設(shè)法渡過了難關(guān)，使年少的蓋澤爾和他的妹妹瑪妮得以擁有快樂的童年。

在斯普林菲爾德度過的童年成為蓋澤爾一些作品的靈感來源，比如大象霍頓走在怒爾叢林的小溪邊，這些小溪便是斯普林菲爾德河流的化身。

十幾歲時，蓋澤爾離開斯普林菲爾德，入讀（美國）達特茅斯學院。其間他曾擔任該校幽默雜志《杰克南瓜燈》的主編。但是，由于他和朋友們舉行飲酒派對，違反了禁酒令和校規(guī)，因而他的主編生涯不得不提前結(jié)束，但他繼續(xù)為該雜志投稿。他在作品上的署名為“蘇斯博士”，這是蓋澤爾的中間名，也是他母親的娘家姓。

蓋澤爾的父親希望他成為一名大學教授。為了取悅父親，他在大學畢業(yè)后繼續(xù)到英國牛津大學深造。然而，厭倦學術(shù)研究的他決定放棄學業(yè)，游歷歐洲。但在牛津大學讀書的經(jīng)歷也不是一無是處，它的確為蓋澤爾帶來了一個機緣，讓他遇見了同學海倫·帕爾默。她鼓勵蓋澤爾成為一名職業(yè)插畫師，后來更成為了蓋澤爾的第一任妻子。

回到美國后，蓋澤爾開始以漫畫為業(yè)。蓋澤爾的一些早期作品發(fā)表在《周六晚郵報》及其他出版物上，但他早期職業(yè)生涯中的大部分作品是專門為標準石油公司創(chuàng)作的廣告插圖，這份工作他做了超過十五年。

二戰(zhàn)期間，蓋澤爾把重點轉(zhuǎn)向了政治漫畫。他為紐約的《PM》日報畫過四百多幅漫畫。1943年，蓋澤爾被征入美軍擔任漫畫部指揮官，其間他制作了一系列軍隊訓(xùn)練影片。在美國陸軍電影第一分部工作時，他首次接觸到動畫藝術(shù)。

就在蓋澤爾繼續(xù)為《生活》、《名利場》、《判斷》等雜志投稿時，維京出版社向他提出了一份工作合約，請他為一本叫《糗大了》的兒童格言錄繪制插圖。雖然這本書沒有取得商業(yè)上的成功，但蓋澤爾的插圖卻大獲好評，為他贏得了進軍兒童文學界的首次“重大突破”。然而，由他編寫和制作插圖的第一本圖書《桑樹街漫游記》的出版過程卻漫長而曲折——此書整整被拒絕了27次，才最終得以在先鋒出版社出版。

1954年，霍頓·米夫林出版集團教育部主任威廉·埃爾斯沃斯·斯波爾丁主動聯(lián)系蓋澤爾，請他僅使用威廉認為對一年級學生非常重要的250個詞來寫一本書。這個創(chuàng)意源于《生活》雜志上的一篇報告，該報告稱，由于兒童讀物非常枯燥乏味，導(dǎo)致兒童無法學會閱讀。結(jié)果，蓋澤爾僅用236個詞就寫成了《戴帽子的貓》——此書完美地融合了蓋澤爾的詩句韻律、繪畫技巧和想象力。這本書與其他為孩子創(chuàng)作的圖書一道風靡國內(nèi)外，獲得了巨大成功。

1967年，蓋澤爾的第一任妻子去世后，他娶了奧德麗·斯通·戴蒙德為妻。她不僅影響了他后來的書，而且以蘇斯博士事業(yè)集團主席的身份，守衛(wèi)著蓋澤爾留下的遺產(chǎn)。

到他去世（1991年9月24日）的時候，蓋澤爾一共寫了六十多本書，其中大多數(shù)都以他為人熟知的筆名“蘇斯博士”出版。但除此之外，他也以“西奧·萊西?！睘槊麑戇^十多本書，另有一本署名為“羅塞塔·斯通”。蓋澤爾的書多次榮登暢銷書榜首，銷量超過六百萬冊，并被譯為二十多種語言。

Fun Facts About Dr. Seuss

There are so far four major[主要的] motion pictures[電影] based on Dr. Seuss books. These include How the Grinch Stole Christmas （2002）， The Cat in the Hat （2003）， Horton Hears a Who （2008）， and The Lorax （2012）. These movies all had big stars like Jim Carrey， Steve Carrell， and Mike Myers.

There is a Dr. Seuss National Memorial[紀念物] Sculpture[雕塑] Garden in Springfield， Massachusetts.

He never had any children of his own.

He wrote Green Eggs and Ham based on the bet that he couldnt write a book using less than 50 words.

His first book， The Cat in the Hat， is still his most popular.