Showbiz 7s: Things you didn't know about Dr. Seuss

By Deborah Netburn, Los Angeles Times Staff Writer

The opening of “Horton Hears a Who!” this weekend gives us the opportunity to talk about one of our nation’s most fascinating writers: Theodor Seuss Geisel, aka Dr. Seuss.

Not only do his more than 40 books have crazy rhyme structures, occasionally incorporate only 250 words, and those specifically sway-ey drawings (many of the plants were inspired by the succulents at the San Diego Zoo, we once learned), the author also had a political agenda that worked itself into some of his silliest-sounding books. And so despite writing for kids, he got to voice his opinion on dictatorships, nuclear proliferation and participatory democracy.

Wikipedia has lots of info on the man, but to learn even more (and make sure it was factually accurate) we turned to Kansas State professor Philip Nel, the author of “Dr. Seuss: American Icon,” a font of Seuss knowledge.

We could have talked to him all day. (AP Photo / 20th Century Fox / February 29, 2008)