Ever wonder why it is that almost every kindergarten teacher in America has the books of Dr. Seuss as standard reading for their children? Or even better, why almost every kid in America wants to try green eggs and ham for breakfast? Who is this infamous Dr. Seuss that has seemingly taken over our elementary lesson plans and turned to bewitching our kids into wanting to read?

Well, it turns out this Dr. of ours is actually a one, Mr. Theodor Seuss Geisel. Did you catch that? - Seuss is actually his middle name (which was given to him from his mother's maiden name, Henrietta Seuss). Originally from Springfield, Massachusetts young Theodor (nicknamed Ted) was an avid reader. One of his favorite books was The Hole Book and at the age of six, he could recite the whole story by heart.

Ted, of course had other interests such as drawing and visiting the Forest Park Zoo, just six blocks away from their house on Fairfield Street. He would come home from the zoo and try to draw some of the creatures he'd seen. Of course, his imagination would get involved and Ted would have a zoo of his own animal creations. Drawing would come to be a favorite hobby of his all throughout his life, along with naming his creations and coming up with humorous words to put in their mouths.

So, when did this young Ted turn into the Dr. Seuss that would create the books our children are learning to read from? Well, the Seuss part of the name came about while Ted was attending Dartmouth College. As punishment for throwing too loud a party and waking his landlord, the dean of the college forced Ted Geisel to resign as editor of the school paper. But, Ted decided to keep on editing, writing and drawing cartoons under the guise of a different name, 'Ted Seuss' or just 'Seuss'.

The 'Dr.' part of his name would come a little later on in life. While creating a cartoon feature for the magazine Judge, Ted decided to sign his name 'Dr. Theophrastus Seuss' to sound more professional. Eventually, it would become just 'Dr. Seuss'. Ted was saving his real name for the great novel he hoped to write someday.

Now, you know where the name came from and a little history about the man behind the name, but what about the books that stemmed from the great Dr.'s imagination. These are the tokens after all, that are beguiling our children into the enjoyment of reading. Nowadays the books of Seuss are broken up into three main categories: Beginner Books, Bright & Early Books and Hardcover Classics.

Ted's beginning into children's books came with his publishing And to Think That I Saw It on Mulberry Street, a hardcover classic that follows the imagination of a boy named Marco and the amazing sights he sees parading down Mulberry Street. The success of this story brought on several other Seuss classics, including the The Grinch Who Stole Christmas.

The year of the 'Grinch' success also brought us the infamous 'Cat'. And here is when we see the seeds of change in our beginning readers. After reading an article in Life Magazine, in which the author criticizing the "Dick and Jane" books, stated that Dr. Seuss could create better beginner readers for children, Ted decided to take on the challenge. He took a list of 223 easy-to-read words and after nine months of work gave us, The Cat in the Hat.

Oddly enough, the book did not initially sell well to schools. The publishing company, Random House, took it to bookstores where it flew off the shells. Parents were excited to have a book that their children could laugh with and enjoy while sounding out the easy-to-read words. There was now a new division at Random House devoted to beginner books. Ted was in charge of the division and every book that came out of it would have an image of the Cat in the Hat on the cover.

Eventually, the teachers in schools caught on with the mainstream and school kids everywhere are delighting in the wonderful works of Dr. Seuss. His imaginative creations have given children an opportunity to have fun while sounding out the playful, rhyming words and following along with the outrageous pictures. So, thank you Dr. Seuss.

Oh yeah, why do kids everywhere want to try green eggs and ham? My guess is they must a read about it in a book somewhere - I bet it has something to do with that Dr. Seuss character.