WI Dr. Seuss Doesn't Write Children's Books?

Dr. Seuss aka Theodor Geisel (1904-1991) almost didn't become a writer/illustrator of children's books. In 1936, he tried to sell a manuscript titled A Story No One Can Beat to publishers who rejected it for many different reasons (some didn't like the cartoon art, some didn't like the verse, some even thought it encouraged children to lie to parents, etc). Seuss was about ready to burn the manuscript and give up when by chance he encountered a classmate from Dartmouth who had just become an editor at Vanguard Press. Vanguard published the book as And To Think That I Saw It on Mulberry Street and that launched his career.

Let's say the POD is that Seuss never meets this classmate and burns the manuscript as he planned. Without Dr. Seuss and his memorable creations (the Cat in the Hat, the Grinch, the Lorax, etc), what kind of butterflies would this have on children's literature or even popular culture?
 
Geisel had a successful career as a political cartoonist for PM Magazine, during World War II. (There's a book about it called "Dr. Seuss Goes to War," published in 1999.) He was very pro-intervention and very anti-Axis. A lot of his artwork for PM has at least a passing similarity to the illustrations in Dr. Seuss books. However, Geisel did not write like Dr. Seuss.

Your PoD -- Seuss burns his manuscript in 1936 -- it is possible that Geisel's hopes as a writer would vanish, but his drawing ability would remain extraordinary, and so he might have been hired by PM after all. If Geisel burns the manuscript and gives up drawing, then he'll never be a notable person. Maybe children would read the "Dick and Jane" books instead, or a whole lot of Curious George.

There would be no Cat-in-the-Hat hats.

This is my favorite Dr. Seuss book, and I have a mission to mention it any time it's relevant: Marvin K. Mooney, Will You Please Go Now? . It was published in 1972, and "Marvin K. Mooney" represents a real person.
 
This is my favorite Dr. Seuss book, and I have a mission to mention it any time it's relevant: Marvin K. Mooney, Will You Please Go Now? . It was published in 1972, and "Marvin K. Mooney" represents a real person.

Yes, the Marvin K. Mooney was supposed to be Richard Nixon and the book was meant as one big middle finger at Nixon. Dr. Seuss was a very liberal Democrat, being a big supporter of the New Deal.

BTW, your comments made me realize a major butterfly this POD would have - the Berenstain Bears never come to pass. While working as an editor at Random House, Ted Geisel actually discovered Stan and Jan Berenstain when they submitted their book The Big Honey Hunt. The Berenstain Bears almost didn't become a series. Stan and Jan wanted to do more books with the bears but Geisel said no; he argued that there were too many books out there with bears in them (Yogi Bear, the Three Bears, Little Bear, etc) but changed his mind when he heard of great reviews from buyers and good advance sales from field agents.

A world without Dr. Seuss OR the Berenstain Bears? You have to wonder what the state of children's literature would have been like in the 20th century and early 21st century. *shudder*
 

Art

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Well, the Boxcar Children would have still been around, but yeah, Illustrated children's book might have been stuck in a rut for a long time without Seuss.
 
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