Today, March 2nd, is the 106th birthday of much beloved children’s author Theodor Seuss Geisel, better known to billions of American children as Dr. Seuss.

Geisel began using his more famous moniker- Seuss- when at Dartmouth College in the 1920s. Having been caught drinking gin with several other students, Geisel was ordered to quit all extracurricular activities and in order to circumvent the ban, he began publishing cartoons under the name “Seuss.” (Geisel also worked under the nom de plume “Theo LeSieg.”)

Geisel died in 1991, and to say his books are a favorite of American children would be a massive understatement. Not only are his books (One Fish, Two Fish, Red Fish, Blue Fish; The Cat in The Hat and Green Eggs and Ham, for starters) prolific, but the distinctive rhyming patterns and colorful style of illustration unique to Geisel’s work is firmly ingrained in pop culture.

Surprisingly, Google doesn’t seem to be honoring Geisel- seems like he’s right up their street. Still, the internet hasn’t forgotten the birthday of Dr. Seuss, and if you want to print out coloring pages for your kids or yourself, there are some printables on Seussville.com. (There are more printables here if you’re all into Dr. Seuss coloring pages today.)

And for the grown-up Seuss fans, check out this Dr. Seuss-inspired rap. I never realized how suited to hip-hop Seuss words were, but homeboy had flow.

Happy 106th birthday, Dr. Seuss! is a post from: The Inquisitr

Dr. Seuss Birthday 2009

Dr. Seuss was actually born Theodor Seuss Geisel in Springfield, Massachusetts on March 2, 1904. Seuss grew up in the New England area and went to Dartmouth College. That’s where both his writing career began and his “Doctor” moniker was formed.

Seuss, as the story goes, was caught partying during Prohibition. As a punishment, the school told him to step down from his extracurricular activities, which included writing for a school publication called the Jack-o-Lantern. Seuss, however, wanted to keep writing, so he started working under the name “Dr. Seuss” to keep administrators from realizing it was him.

Dr. Seuss eventually became famous for his rhyming, brightly illustrated books such as The Cat in the Hat and Green Eggs and Ham. He died in 1991, at the age of 87.

Dr. Seuss Coloring Pages: Seussville.com

In honor of Dr. Seuss’s birthday, you can find Dr. Seuss coloring pages and other kids’ activities at the official Seussville.com Web site.

Dr. Seuss Birthday 2009: Coloring Pages, Contests, and More is a post from: The Inquisitr