Dr. Seuss: American Icon

by Philip Nel

Published in time for the centenary of Seuss's birth in March 2004, Dr. Seuss: American Icon, celebrates one of the most influential authors and artists of the 20th century: Theodor Seuss Geisel, best known as 'Dr. Seuss'. Dr Seuss's ascendance from children's author to American icon confirms that his cultural significance rests not just with the beginning reader, but with the scholar, the artist, and the poet.

Seuss's Beginner Books(starting with The Cat in the Hat in 1957) have obscured the enormous range of his contributions to American literature. Similarly his art, unfairly overlooked because it appears in children's books, cartoons, and commercials, actually covers a range of styles, including Surrealism, Art Nouveau, and Cubism.

Bringing to light the adult perspective behind the children's writer, Philip Nel examines Seuss's lesser-known works, such as the 'adult book' The Seven Lady Godivas (1939), and the live-action musical The 5,000 Fingers of Dr. T (1953). The book also features the most comprehensive Seuss bibliography ever produced, documenting his prodigious output.

As well as establishing Seuss's place among poets and artists, Dr. Seuss: American Icon links the Seuss people know and the Seuss people do not know.

Genres: Biography, Nonfiction

320 pages, Paperback

First published December 1, 2003

About the author

Books include Keywords for Children's Literature Second Edition (co-edited with Lissa Paul and Nina Christensen, NYU Press, 2021), Was the Cat in the Hat Black?: The Hidden Racism of Children's Literature and the Need for Diverse Books (Oxford UP, 2017), Crockett Johnson and Ruth Krauss: How an Unlikely Couple Found Love, Dodged the FBI, and Transformed Children's Literature (UP Mississippi, 2012), Keywords for Children's Literature (co-edited with Lissa Paul, NYU Press, 2011), Tales for Little Rebels: A Collection of Radical Children's Literature (co-edited with Julia Mickenberg, NYU Press, 2008), The Annotated Cat: Under the Hats of Seuss and His Cats (Random House, 2007), Dr. Seuss: American Icon (Continuum, 2004), The Avant-Garde and American Postmodernity: Small Incisive Shocks (UP Mississippi, 2002), J. K. Rowling's Harry Potter Novels: A Reader's Guide (Continuum, 2001), and Crockett Johnson's Barnaby (five volumes, co-edited with Eric Reynolds, Fantagraphics, 2013-2024).

Reviews

[Ashley · Rating 3 out of 5]

I definitely thought this would have been a biography about Dr. Seuss but it was more of an analysis of his writing style, influence on culture, and political views via comics. I had no idea of the blatant racism and sexism depicted in some of the earlier versions of his story and it was cool to see how he was willing to modify things as his worldview expanded (except he was still sexist…). I’ve never thought of Dr. Suess as a poet or an artist, and Nel shared a lot of insight as to why he is in fact both. Some of the technical speak was a bit much for me, but the context and stories behind his work and history at the time made up for it. Definitely a book that requires you to pay attention and it might leave you with a changed view of an idol from your childhood. The copyright sections were the most dense but also fascinating because I don’t think I would have been able to tell that some of the books with his name are not in fact by him — I will certainly have to be wary of that in the future.

[Laura · Rating 3 out of 5]

When I picked up this book to read, I was expecting a biography. It wasn’t. This was more about Mr. Geisel’s writing style, his influence, copyright versus trademark, political ideations and even going into modern culture. There were parts I found fascinating and really enjoyed, but there we parts that were on the boring side. I would give this 3.5 stars, but the stars don’t have enough weight to push it to 4 stars, hence, the 3 star rating.

[Sarah Mayor Cox · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is an absolutely fascinating book. Nel is a fabulous example of an academic who knows how to write in a way that draws you into his ideas - rather than someone who makes you feel stupid because you can't understand his ideas. Many westerners have grown up reading Suess when they are young and for anyone who has this will be a really insightful and thought provoking book.

Some interesting facts and quotes from Professor Philip Nel’s book Dr. Suess:American Icon (2005):

“When we think of Suess, we think of poetry – we even imitate his poetry. But he isn’t often recognised as a poet … and of the roughly seventy critical articles or chapters on Suess, only three offer any sustained analysis of his poetry.” (Nel 2005; 15)

Of his sixty-fiveish books, all but five are told in verse in fact “Suess often joked that he couldn’t speak in prose at all … he so preferred verse that he used it for almost all public speaking” (Nel 2005; 16)

Suess’ favourite poetic pattern was the anapestic tetrameter (ie. Two unstressed syllables and a stressed syllable, and he usually used four of them together in a line).

“These anapests [unstressed, unstressed,stressed] – and Suess’s meter more generally – lure readers into a pattern that keep them reading. It’s fun to be carried along by the rhythm of the language, a characterist which Suess exploits when he completes an end rhyme on the following page. Suess introduced this page-turning strategy in Horton Hatches the Egg … As Suess said, “ You establish a rhythm, and that tends to make kids want to go on. If you break the rhythm, a child feels unfulfilled” … the rhythm of the verse[s] does more than merely connect the episodes. It aids in building up suspense, amplifying the outrageousness of the tall tale[s as they grow] taller and taller” (Nel 2005; 18-19) eg. Passage from If I Ran the Circus

[Pete D'angelo · Rating 2 out of 5]

this book is not as much biography as literary/art criticism and analysis. what i was really hoping to discover was "who was this ted geisel guy, really?" and while i did learn a little, and there were some interesting tidbits about geisel's life, the book overall was more a critique of geisel's writing style and artwork, and its place in american culture. some of it interesting, but an in-depth analysis of rhyme schemes and the like made some parts quite uninteresting (at least for me). there were some things i liked about the book, especially learning about seuss' numerous revisions and tendencies towards perfectionism. it took him years and many revisions to produce what on the surface seem flippant and simple (though very endearing!) stories. a great quote i discovered was "if i'm a genius, then why the hell do i have to work so hard?"

[Elise · Rating 4 out of 5]

I picked up this book, thinking it would be a bit of biography and a bit of analysis. It's purely analysis of Seuss's works! I found it enjoyable and educational. The first chapter is about poetry, anapests and iambs, which pointed out the inadequacies of my literature education and nearly lost me. Once I got past the nuts and bolts of poetry, I enjoyed reading about the context in which Seuss wrote his books and cartoons.

[Aaron Lê · Rating 5 out of 5]

You will learn a lot about Dr. Seuss, stuff that you didn't even know you cared about. Philip Nel is a superb writer and it shows in every carefully thought of sentence.

[Patricia]

My husband brought this to me from Singapore.