Dr. Seuss was the artist and writer of many favorite children’s books like the Cat in the Hat, Horton Hears a Who, Green Eggs and Ham, the Lorax and How the Grinch Stole Christmas.

Dr. Seuss was not his real name. He was born Theodore Geisel in 1904 in the small town of Springfield, Massachusetts. As a child, he loved to doodle and draw, but his mother, Henrietta Geisel, wanted him to become a doctor. Also, his college class voted him as least likely to succeed, because they said “A man can’t exactly doodle for a living”.

When he published his children’s books, Theodore Geisel paid homage to his mother by using an author’s pseudonym, using the Dr. title and his mother’s maiden name Seuss.

Theodore Geisel obviously went against his mother’s dream and didn’t let his college friends’ low opinion of him get him down, he went on to become one the most famous and successful children’s book illustrator and author.

I got this information from the How the Grinch Stole Christmas TV special DVD.