And will you succeed?
Yes! You will, indeed!
(98 and 3/4 percent guaranteed.)
KID, YOU’LL MOVE MOUNTAINS!
Oh, the Places You’ll Go! was published just a year before Seuss’ death and captures his indomitable sense of optimism and hope. If Dr. Seuss had ever meant to write an autobiography, this book would be it.
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Born Theodor Seuss Geisel, the name Dr. Seuss (actually pronounced “zoice”) began both as a cover story Seuss concocted after getting caught drinking gin during Prohibition and a joke directed at his father who always wanted him to get a Phd.
Ted to his family and friends, Seuss wrote his first children’s book in 1937: A Story No One Can Beat, which he later changed to And to Think That I Saw It on Mulberry Street. Seuss attributed his now-famous style of lighthearted rhyming to his mother who would soothe him to sleep when he was young by “chanting” rhymes she remembered from her own childhood.
But success did not come easy to Dr. Seuss. The exact number is unknown but somewhere between 20 and 40 publishing companies rejected his first attempt at a book. In fact, according to Seuss himself, he became so discouraged that one day he was walking home to burn the manuscript when he randomly ran across an old college friend who had connections to the publishing industry and helped him get the book published.
After this first long-awaited success, Seuss continued to work tirelessly throughout his writing career, locking himself in the studio of his old observation tower and writing at least eight hours a day – sometimes literally wearing a thinking cap. It wasn’t unusual for him to throw away 95% of his work and spend up to a year on just one book. And Seuss’ hard work paid off: He earned two Academy Awards, two Emmy Awards, a Peabody Award and the Pulitzer Prize (among many others). To this date, his books have still sold more than J.K. Rowling’s and Stephenie Meyer’s.
But it wasn’t his fame and fortune that Seuss was most proud of. His greatest achievement, he said, was replacing the boring and predictable “Dick and Jane” books with fun, silly, imaginative and inspiring books that have instilled a love of reading in children for generations.
Today, one in four children receive Dr. Seuss as their first book, and Seuss’ birthday, March 2, has been named National Read Across America Day.
Dr. Seuss became Dr. Seuss because he didn’t give up. Who will you become if you don’t give up?
on you will go
though the weather be foul.
On you will go
though your enemies prowl.
On you will go
though the Hakken-Kraks howl.
Onward up many a frightening creek,
though your arms may get sore
and your sneakers may leak.
On and on you will hike.
And I know you’ll hike far
and face up to your problems
whatever they are.
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*Photo by Markus Spiske @ Magdeleine / CC0
Image may be NSFW.Clik here to view.
