Dr. Seuss from Then to Now Review

Manufacturer: Random House Books for Young Readers Author(s): Dr. Seuss ISBN: 0394892682    EAN: 9780394892689 Binding: Hardcover Pages: 95 Reading Level: Ages 9-12 Average Rating: 5 out of 5 Stars

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User Submitted Dr. Seuss from Then to Now Reviews

While the cleverness of the good doctor's prose is sampled, it is really his artwork that steals the show. The book is filled with both glorious full color, as well as black and white, examples. There are also reproductions of most of the cover illustrations. The truly rare aspect of this book though, is the biographical insights that it gives into the artist's life. The struggles that he went through with underemployment and just trying to survive in the 1930's are especially inspiring these days.

It is fascinating to see the artist's early magazine (Judge and Life) and advertising work (Flit and Esso.) The only noticable omission is his early Hollywood collaboration. There is absolutely no mention of the early Horton cartoons, or of "5000 Fingers of Dr. T."

I especially enjoyed this book because of an incident that happened to me in grade school. I was always fascinated by the art in these books, but when I tried to look at them in third grade, I was told that I couldn't because they were below my "age level." That is a lie, these books, and this art, transcend any bureaucratic, mindless, age grouping. They are ageless and timeless.

January 5, 1998
Dr. Seuss history to accompany touring art collection in 80s
While poking through books on the closeout table at my local bookstore, I uncovered this treasure. The multicolored collage cover grabbed my eye. The thin book, it turns out, isn't any new work by Dr. Suess at all, but a very nice book published to accompany a touring art exhibit of the good doctor's work in the mid 1980's. The introduction and forward key on reasons why we love Dr. Seuss. He allows us to learn yet go "against the conventional grain" with his fantastic, yet strangely thematic imaginary world of characters. This book essentially gives historical background to the pieces I assume were in the exhibit. The book makes me really wish I had gotten the opportunity to see what I'm sure was a great display. There are some black and white prints of early sketches, along with some watercolor prints of Seuss' later work. The book spends alot of time showing the reader (or gallery visitor) the step-by-step process Dr. Seuss went through to put together "Oh, The Places You'll Go," and "You're Only Old Once." The text and artwork are engaging and quite interesting to read, and it follows a simple chronological order spanning Seuss' career. I enjoyed the book, as it gave me greater insight into the artist and his lifelong work, and it encouraged me to begin seriously collecting Seuss' books and videos. However, I was disappointed to later find that this book mentioned very little of Seuss' collaborative works he wrote using the name Theo. LeSieg (Theodore Geisel in reverse). Those works are just as creative and yet they were slighted by this text. It makes me wonder if LeSieg pieces were left out of the touring art exhibit as well. Overall, if you are looking for a solid biography of Seuss, this is not the book you want. But if you are fascinated by his thinking and creative processes, in step-by-step format, this is a book you should definitely add to your collection. And good luck hunting for it. You might want to start at Aunt Edna's yard sale. For that matter, beat the crowds by volunteering to clean out her attic this spring. You may find a few other Seuss treasures!


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