Welcome to the Wonderful World of Dr. Seuss: The Man Behind the Legend

Seuss’s Story Ideas Were Sometimes Rejected

Before Geisel started working on “ The Cat in the Hat ,” he wanted to write a children’s story about climbing Mount Everest in freezing temperatures. His hope was that it would be a thrilling page-turner for kids (again, the opposite of the Dick and Jane texts schoolchildren were forced to read in those days).

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Source: Shooting Parrots

But when he pitched the idea to a publisher, Geisel was told that he wasn’t allowed to use the words “Everest,” “scaling,” “peaks,” or “degrees,” because young readers supposedly wouldn’t recognize or understand them.

Dr. Seuss Dabbled in Taxidermy

Taxidermy, for those who may not know, is the preserving of an animal’s body by mounting or stuffing it, for the purpose of display or study. And yes, Dr. Seuss did something of the sort. Geisel sculpted weird busts of fictional beasts.

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Source: The Vintage News

One of them was the Mulberry Street unicorn and a “carbonic walrus” that was made out of body parts from exotic animals that died at his father’s zoo. He called it “Unorthodox Taxidermy.” And unorthodox it was.

For Those Who Know Latin…

Terence and Jennifer Tunberg are a husband and wife team who teach classics at the University of Kentucky. And together, they translated three popular Dr. Seuss books into Latin. Published in 1998, their edition Latin edition of “ How the Grinch Stole Christmas! ” was titled “ Quomodo Invidiosulus Nomine Grinchus Christi Natalem Abrogaverit .”

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Source: Publishing Perspectives

Then they published “ Cattus Petasatus ,” the Tunbergs’ version of “ The Cat in the Hat .” Finally, they created “ Virent Ova! Viret Perna! ” which is much better known as “ Green Eggs and Ham .”

Dartmouth College Serves Green Eggs and Ham

Did you ever wonder what it would be like to actually eat a plate of green eggs and ham? Sure it is and sounds like a fictional and surreal meal, but the truth is that it’s real and you can eat it at Dartmouth College.

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Source: Rauner Special Collections Library

The Dartmouth Outing Club, which organizes outdoor travels and events for students of the Ivy League school, regularly honors Dr. Seuss by serving up actual green eggs and ham to the freshmen who participate in their outdoor excursions. I can’t comment on how tasty it is, though.

The Dr. Seuss Sculpture Garden

The Dr. Seuss National Memorial Sculpture Garden in Geisel’s very own hometown of Springfield, Massachusetts opened to the public in 2002 and has welcomed more than 3 million visitors ever since.

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Source: Springfield Museums

The garden is full of bronze statues of characters like the Lorax, Horton the Elephant, the Grinch, and the Cat in the Hat to name a few. The garden also steps away from another Geisel attraction: The Amazing World of Dr. Seuss Museum.