Dr. Seuss Author
How Did I Get to Write for Dr. Seuss?
One of the questions I’m asked almost every day is how I got to write the new line of Cat in the Hat books for Random House. I started writing children’s books in 1985 when my first book for Sesame Street, “Bert and the Broken Teapot” was published.
Over the years, I continued writing books for Sesame Street, Disney, Blue’s Clues, Bear in the Big Blue House, Clifford, Curious George and Huff and Puff, to name a few. Finally I decided to write a story about my own character Maurus O’Raurus, the Oops-a-saurus.
Maurus O’Raurus was an Oops-a-saurus
who had the best voice in the Dinosaur chorus
he liked to play tennis and swim in the sea
but mostly he liked to eat fresh broccoli.
I thought it was pretty “Seussical” so I sent it in to Random House. Months later I got a call and they told me they had “bad news and good news.” The bad news was they weren’t going to publish Maurus the Oops-a-saurus, but the good news was they were looking for someone to take over writing for the Cat in the Hat following Dr. Seuss’s death in 1991. The series was called The Cat in the Hat’s Learning Library and featured non-fiction RHYMING books about science!
When birds want to go
on a winter vacation
they all take a trip
and they call it migration.
My first two books, Is a Camel a Mammel? and Fine Feathered Friends were published in 1998. The books were so successful that my contract was extended and to date I have written 18 books in the series on subjects like space, deserts, bugs, the human body, cats, dogs, maps, reptiles and butterflies.
The Cat in the Hat Knows a Lot About That!TM is an award-winning series and website that is designed to spark a love of learning and an interest in science and math for preschool-aged children. The series was based on the best-selling book series The Cat in the Hat’s Learning Library which features non-fiction science books for early readers on such topics as space, the human body, bugs, reptiles, cats, dogs, butterflies, maps and deserts.
The 100 Hats of the Cat in the Hat
Who Hatches the Egg?
High? Low? Where Did It Go?
Out of Sight Till Tonight!
Can You See a Chimpanzee?
Clam-I-Am!
Fine Feathered Friends
If I Ran the Dog Show
Inside Your Outside!
Is A Camel A Mammal?
Miles and Miles of Reptiles
My, Oh My - a Butterfly!
Oh Say Can You Say
What's the Weather Today?
Oh, the Pets You Can Get!
Oh, the things you can do
that are good for you!
On Beyond Bugs!
There's a Map on My Lap!
There's No Place Like Space!
What Cat Is That?
Why Oh Why Are Deserts Dry?