THE BOY ON FAIRFIELD STREET: HOW TED GEISEL GREW UP TO BECOME DR. SEUSS BY KATHLEEN KRULL

Bibliography
Krull, Kathleen. 2004. THE BOY ON FAIRFIELD STREET: HOW TED GEISEL GREW UP TO BECOME DR. SEUSS. Ills. Steve Johnson and Lou Fancher. New York, NY. Random House Children's Books. ISNB 0375922989

Plot Summary
Kathleen Krull tells the story of Ted Geisel's (Dr. Suess) formative years, from boyhood to age 22 when he began getting published. Ted was "a boy who feasted on books and was wild about animals." Ted's mother had dreams of him becoming a doctor when he grew up, but Ted "excelled at fooling around." Tom noticed "ways he didn't really fit in" and "developed [a] strong awareness of injustice" from his time on the playground. He enjoyed drawing more than anything else and liked exaggerating his illustrations. As Ted continued through school into college, he was still unsure what he wanted to do with his life. Classmates "voted Ted 'Least
Likely to Succeed.'" Ted began using the name "Seuss" at Dartmouth when signing work he did for different publications. With a few words of encouragement from his future wife, a letter of acceptance from a local newspaper, and fan mail from a child, Ted eventually found an audience for his "love of reading, animals, and justice. He could even promote fooling around."

Critical Analysis
The biography is very informational and answers many questions about why Ted Geisel chose to become an author/illustrator for children's books. Readers can identify with Geisel as they read about his life as a fun-loving boy. The story stops somewhat abruptly when Geisel is 22 and off to New York to begin a new job. Krull includes a complete biography of Geisel at the end of the book along with a list of his works and a picture of the author/illustrator. Many illustrations from Seuss' own work appear all over the inside covers, the complete biography and the book list. A Seuss character adorns the bottom of each page of text and are fun to look at. Each page of text is also accompanied by a full page painting by Steve Johnson and Lou Fancher. The paintings are reminiscent of the time period, however appear somewhat dull. Some interesting details can be found in the paintings, such as the doodles on the corner of Geisel's desk pad in his office at Dartmouth.


Review Excerpts
Review from The Looking Glass Review: "written with enthusiasm"

Review from Publisher's Weekly: "provides intriguing tidbits about the creation of some of his beloved books."


Connections
*Expose students to any and all of Seuss' works.
*Discuss the differences between Suess' illustrations and those of Johnson and Fancher.
*Discuss why the Geisel's were treated differently during the years around the war.