Dr. Seuss Goes to War: The World War II Editorial Cartoons of Theodor Seuss Geisel

By Richard H. Minear and Dr. Seuss

For decades, readers throughout the world have enjoyed the marvelous stories and illustrations of Theodor Seuss Geisel, better known as Dr. Seuss. But few know the work Geisel did as a political cartoonist during World War II, for the New York daily newspaper PM. In these extraordinarily trenchant cartoons, Geisel presents "a provocative history of wartime politics" (Entertainment Weekly). Dr. Seuss Goes to War features handsome, large-format reproductions of more than two hundred of Geisel’s cartoons, alongside "insightful" (Booklist) commentary by the historian Richard H. Minear that places them in the context of the national climate they reflect.

Pulitzer Prizewinner Art Spiegelman's introduction places Seuss firmly in the pantheon of the leading political cartoonists of our time.

• Language: English
• Publisher: The New Press
• Release date: Sep 10, 2013
• ISBN: 9781595589903

Reviews for Dr. Seuss Goes to War

[angelic55blonde · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

I really like this because it is a great collection of political cartoons by Dr. Seuss. The cartoons say more than entire books on the subject can at times and it gives the reader a glimpse into what many people thought at the time.

[wfzimmerman · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

A really cool book. Dr. Seuss's drawings look the same when he is drawing Hitler as when he is drawing Horton or the Cat in the Hat. It's also gratifying that Seuss was so right so early about the Fascist threat...

[bensdad00 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Other than the oddly large number of cartoons referred to but not shown it was an interesting read.

[michael_rose-1 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

With few exceptions, this is quite an excellent collection. It's also one hell of a condemnation of American's pre-1941 apathy towards Hitler and his victims. Americans still view brutal dictators as "not their problem" until the problem is more direct to their own interests, so his cartoons are still relevant in this way.

[shuffy2_1 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

I love this book, it melds education and fun into one! Dr. Suesss, aka Theodor Geisel, began his career as not just a cartoonist but a political cartoonist. After a few illustrations selling various items, he became involved in political cartoons for PM magazine urging the US to get involved in the war prior to Pearl Harbor. While his Hitler, Mussolini, Stalin, Ito and Tojo are reminiscient of Cat in the Hat and Hoton Hear a Who the cartoon like drawings contained jabs at both foreign and domestic issues of the day. The commentary by Minear sets a timeline and historical background so all can enjoy- history buff or not! I highly recommend!

[alexanme-1 · Rating: 1 out of 5 stars]

the racism was too much for me :/

[wishanem · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

The political comics of Theodor Geisel are presented in this book with enough background, commentary, and context to be really appreciated. The political points being promoted by each comic aren't always obvious, and Richard Minear's elaborations are as illuminating as they are concise.

He also doesn't sugar-coat or excuse the problems of Mr. Geisel's work, pointing out how Geisel addressed racism against Jewish and Black people while also being unselfconsciously racist against Japanese people (including Japanese-Americans).

I really enjoyed reading this book, and I learned much more about World War II (and especially domestic US politics at the time) from it than I had expected to.

[sashame-485567 · Rating: 1 out of 5 stars]

the racism was too much for me :/