Bibliographic Information Krull, K. (2004). The boy on Fairfield Street. New York: Random House.
Summary
This is a biography about Ted Geisel and how he came to be known as Dr. Seuss. Ted Geisel was born in 1904. He lived with family in Springfield, Massachusetts. He loved books and animals. His father was the director of the zoo, so Ted spent many hours there. His mother always made sure he had plenty of books to read. Her dream for Ted was for him to be the first to get into college and become a doctor. Ted had a great imagination and loved to doodle and draw on his walls in his bedroom. He drew imaginary creatures and whatever popped into head.
Ted’s grandparents were German immigrants, so the Geisels were considered outsiders. Ted could speak German as well as English. He was often teased and bullied at school. During World War I, no one questioned his patriotism because he was in the Boy Scouts. He became one of the top selling Scouts by walking door to door selling United States Liberty Bonds to support the war effort. He was supposed to receive an award with nine other Scouts, but a mistake was made. Former president Theodore Roosevelt was presenting the ribbons and ran out just as he got to Ted. Roosevelt blurted, “What’s this little boy doing here?” Ted was guided offstage without an award. Ted avoided being in public after that day.
In high school, Ted would rather doodle than take notes in class. He played banjo, wrote stories and drew cartoons for the school paper. He could easily make his classmates laugh. Ted was clearly gifted, though no one knew at exactly what. He was discouraged by the art teacher in school for his unusual drawings. She thought he was just fooling around with his art. He quit the art class.
Ted went to college at Darmouth, but was voted “Least Likely to Succeed” by his classmates. It was during this time that Ted started writing for a magazine using his mother’s maiden name “Seuss.” This was also his middle name. He started signing all of his work after that time with “Dr. Seuss.”
After a while, he met a young lady who encouraged him with one of his drawings of a flying cow. This helped to “put the world into focus for Ted.” Ted married that young lady named Helen Palmer when he was twenty three. She never stopped encouraging him.
His career was off and on during that time. He kept up his cartoon and advertising work as well as trying out children’s book ideas. His books were written from his experiences from childhood, such as the zoo, parades, neighbors, and even a street. He wrote a book called “And to Think That I Saw It on Mulberry Street,” which was written when he was thirty three. The book didn’t make much money, but the reviews were good.
In 1957, Dr. Seuss wrote The Cat in the Hat. This book was written using a list of words first graders needed to learn to read. That same year How the Grinch Stole Christmas was published. In the career of Dr. Seuss, his books sold hundreds of millions of copies. They were the bestselling children’s books ever.
Impressions
This is a great biography. I enjoyed the story and learned things about Dr. Seuss I had never heard before. I always thought his drawings were a little different, but enjoyed his books. This book can encourage children to follow their dreams, even with discouragement along the way. This book follows Dr. Seuss from his childhood and college years, and ends with him moving on as a cartoonist and finally a successful children’s book author. The paintings in this book along with the cartoons by Dr. Seuss help make it enjoyable. I would recommend it for all ages.
Reviews
“Once upon a time, there lived a boy who feasted on books and was wild about animals.” So begins this young biography of Dr. Seuss. Taunted at school because he was German, his escapes were drawing, the comics he loved, and the zoo, where his father was the parks superintendent in Springfield, Mass. His high-school art teacher warned him he’d never be successful at art; in Dartmouth he was voted “Class Artist and Class Wit,” and he left Oxford to draw and write verse. Truly only about his youth, the narrative ends at age 22, when Seuss goes to New York City to launch his career. Four following pages provide a synopsis of his life and a timeline up to his death in 1991. Bordered, full-page oil-on-gessoed-paper illustrations evoke pertinent scenes, while spot art of Seuss drawings dot the opposite pages. Some of these original images are absolutely haunting; the magic of his name will make this a huge hit, but it’s the lively writing that puts the hat on the cat. (bibliography, citations, Web sites) (Picture book/biography. 7-11)
(2003, December 15). [Review of The Boy on Fairfield Street]. Kirkus Reviews. Retrieved from http://www.kirkusreviews.com/book-reviews/childrens-books/kathleen-krull/the-boy-on-fairfield-street/?spdy=2004
Just in time for Dr. Seuss's one hundredth birthday comes this biographical tribute, an affectionate survey centered on Ted Geisel's boyhood, plus a bit on his brush with higher education (neither Dartmouth College, where he was voted "Least Likely to Succeed," nor Oxford University engaged his full attention), concluding with the first months of his career. Four additional pages summarize the high points and pivotal moments of his entire life in somewhat more detail, but the real story here is of a boy who couldn't stop doodling, who "feasted on books and was wild about animals," and who "excelled at fooling around." Krull does a good job of linking such early propensities with what turned up later, visually and thematically, in Geisel's books. Johnson and Fancher provide nostalgic full-page paintings that nicely recall illustrations of the period; a wealth of adroitly chosen vignettes from Seuss's own books (listed at the end) illuminate points made in the text (teenage Ted "knew his art broke the rules," observes Krull on a page sporting a gleefully determined race car-driving fish from One Fish Two Fish Red Fish Blue Fish). Fans are sure to enjoy meeting the irrepressible man behind the ever-popular books.
(2004, January). [Review of The Boy on Fairfield Street]. Hornbook.
Library Use
This could be used as an introduction to biographies, a study on children’s authors, or in celebration of Dr. Seuss’ birthday.
No comments:
Post a Comment