The Life and Career of Dr. Seuss
Theodor Seuss Geisel, a cartoonist, and author is most recognized as a popular author of children’s book of the 20th century. Seuss left his Massachusetts home having attained the age of eighteen years in order to attend Dartmouth College. Here, Dr. Seuss was appointed to be the humor magazine’s chief editor of the university “Jack-O-Lantern.” Seuss then went to attend Oxford University after having the plan of finally being a professor. It did not work as he had anticipated. Seuss left the college without completing the course after he bought married in the year 1927 and headed back to America.
Early Career and Political Cartoons
When he returned to America, Seuss purposed to learn about full-time Cartooning. The articles he wrote and the artworks were mostly produced in quite a number of magazines that included Life and Vanity Fair. Seuss finally got a job at the New York weekly Judge in the month of July 1927. He afterward served for fifteen years in the advertisement department of the Standard Oil.
Seuss started to produce political cartoons on a weekly basis to the liberal publication PM Magazine at the commencement of World War II. In the year 1942, Seuss worked with Frank Capra’s Signal Corps, where he prepared dynamic films. Following the war, the couple bought an old tower in California. Here, Dr. Seuss would pen at least for eight hours per day and take a break to tend his garden.
Children's Literature
Seuss’ significant career turning point was when he was requested to come up with a children’s primer by Houghton Mifflin together with Random. In 1957, Seuss published a book on the Cat in the Hat. The success of this book cemented Seuss’s place in children’s literature.
Dr. Seuss wrote more books over the next several years by the use of simplified style and more rich method. Examples of Seuss’s credited works are Green Eggs and Ham, How the Grinch Stole the Christmas, and The 500 Hats of Bartholomew Cubbins, among others. Helen, his wife who was suffering from cancer and pain died in 1967. In the following year, Seuss married Audrey after which he died in 1991 in La Jolla, California at the age of 87 years.
An Analysis of "The 500 Hats of Bartholomew Cubbins"
In The 500 Hats of Bartholomew book, Seuss uses symbolism on Bartholomew’s Cubbin’s hat. The hat symbolizes Bartholomew Cubbin. Like the upright feather, Bartholomew walks the straight and upright path of his principles by honestly speaking and obeying principle (Seuss, 1938). The hat transforms into a beautiful chic at the end of the story, and the King wants it enough to pay 500 pieces of gold.
The story’s setting is at the Kingdom of Didd which has a King, Frights, and magicians. A very strict social hierarchy. A low hierarchy person has to take off a hat from the head. Added to Seuss sense of humor, the tone used in this book quietly matches nicely. From the book, for example, one could see such tonal phrases like, “In the beginning…,” and “A long time ago…” By taking this tone, Seuss adds some level of irony making the story quite funnier and even enjoyable to adults. Added to making The 500 Hats of Bartholomew Cubbins story being enjoyable is the prose writing style.
Criticism and Conclusion
Reading Dr. Seuss’s book, The 500 Hats of Bartholomew Cubbin might seem to dread. This is not simply because of the plot, but because it is very long considering the fact that is an illustrated children’s book. Though relatively short compared to an adult novel, there is no difference reading a 500-paged novel book. However, The 500 Hats of Bartholomew Cubbin book was not a bad book but not really Dr. Seuss’s typical book. Since the book is one of the earliest Dr. Seuss’s works, it lacks the creative method incorporated in Seuss’s other iconic works.
The illustrations Dr. Seuss used in this book are mostly black and white. Barely there is any rhythm such that, to any person who loves being captivated by Dr. Seuss’s writing illustrations, it a total shame. The storyline of the book is enjoyable, but it could have been shorter and had more rhyme since children’s rhyming books makes the story flow with quick pacing.
The cartoonist and writer, Theodor Seuss Geisel is most recognized as a popular author of children’s book of the 20th century with exceptional creativity in developing story books mostly enjoyed by both the children as well as adults. Reading Dr. Seuss’s book, The 500 Hats of Bartholomew Cubbin seem challenging being due to the fact that it is a children’s illustrated book. The storyline of the book is enjoyable, but it could have been shorter and had more rhyme since children’s rhyming books makes the story flow with quick pacing. However, by using such tonal expressions as “In the beginning…,” and “A long time ago…,” Seuss adds some level of irony making the story quite funnier and even enjoyable to adults.
Works Cited
https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/1366759924
https://www.shmoop.com/500-hats-bartholomew-cubbins/writing-style.html
The 500 Hats of Bartholomew Cubbins. Random House Books for Young Readers, 1938.
