Dr. Suess...

A doodler at heart, Ted often remarked—with a twinkle in his eye—that he never really learned to draw. His school notebooks often included bizarre creatures that framed sporadic notes he had taken in class. While his work is very distinct to adults and children, Janet Schulman—his editor for the last 11 years of his life—admits that he despised when his writing and illustrations were referred to as “whimsical.”

Ted was also very, very particular about color. According to Cathy Goldsmith, his art director from 1980 through 1991, his sense of color was very idiosyncratic (which means the colors he used were very distinctly and recognizably ‘Seuss’).

His paintings might not have been considered serious by critics’ standards, but Ted took his painting very seriously—it relaxed him. Using watercolor, gouache, ink, or casein, Ted would create vivid scenes with skewed, nonsensical perspectives and images. He would often contrast bright colors against a much darker background, creating an illusion of the subject popping out of the painting. While he longed for critical recognition that he was an artist, Ted would not sell his paintings out of fear of critics’ rejection.

Some Dr. Seuss Classics:

A Whale of a Tale!

All Aboard the Circus McGurkus

And to Think That I Saw It On Mulberry Street

Bartholomew and the Oobleck

Circus McGurkus 1, 2, 3!

Clam-I-Am!

Daisy-Head Mayzie

Did I Ever Tell You How Lucky You Are?

Dr. Seuss On The Loose

Dr. Seuss’s ABC

Dr. Seuss’s Circus McGurkus Squirt!

Dr. Seuss’s Sleep Book

Dr. Suess’s ABC: An Amazing Alphabet Book!

Fine Feathered Friends

Fox in Socks

Gerald McBoing Boing

Great Day for Up!

Green Eggs and Ham

Happy Birthday to You!

Hooper Humperdink…? Not Him!

Hooray for Diffendooer Day!

Hop on Pop

Horton Hatches the Egg

Horton Hears A Who!

Horton Hears a Who! Can You?

How the Grinch Stole Christmas Anniversary Edition

How the Grinch Stole Christmas!

Hunches in Bunches

I Am Not Going to Get Up Today!

I Can Lick 30 Tigers Today! And Other Stories

I Can Name 50 Trees Today!

I Can Read With My Eyes Shut!

I Had Trouble in Getting to Solla Sollew

I Wish That I Has Duck Feet

If I Ran the Circus

If I Ran the Zoo

In a People House

Is a Camel a Mammal?

Marvin K. Mooney Will You Please Go Now!

Mc Elligot’s Pool

McElligot’s Pool

Miles and Miles of Reptiles

Mr. Brown Can Moo! Can You?

My Book About Me

My, Oh My—A Butterfly!

Oh Say Can You Say What’s the Weather Today?

Oh the Things You Can Do That Are Good For You!

Oh, Say Can You Say DI-NO-SAUR?

Oh, Say Can You Say?

Oh, the Pets You Can Get!

Oh, the Places You’ll Go! Deluxe Edition

Oh, the Places You’ll Go!

Oh, the Thinks You Can Think!

On Beyond Bugs

On Beyond Zebra!

One Cent, Two Cents, Old Cent, New Cent

One Fish, Two Fish, Red Fish, Blue Fish

Please Try to Remember the First of Octember!

Scrambled Eggs Super!

Ten Apples Up On Top!

The 500 Hats of Bartholomew Cubbins

The Annotated Cat

The Boy on Farifield Street

The Butter Battle Book

The Cat in the Hat

The Cat in the Hat Beginner Book Dictionary

The Cat in the Hat Comes Back

The Cat in the Hat in English and French

The Cat in the Hat Songbook

The Cat’s Quizzer

The Eye Book

The Foot Book

The King’s Stilts

The Lorax

The Red Lemon

The Road to Oz

The Shape of Me and Other Stuff

The Sneetches and Other Stories

The Tooth Book

There’s a Map on My Lap

There’s a Wocket in My Pocket

There’s No Place Like Space

Thidwick the Big-Hearted Moose

Up, Up, Up with the Cat

Wacky Wednesday

Wet Pet, Dry Pet, Your Pet, My Pet

Wish for a Fish

Would You Rather Be a Bullfrog?

Yertle the Turtle

Yertle the Turtle and Other Storeis Party Edition

Yertle the Turtle and Other Stories Anniversary Edition

You’re Only Old Once!