The Boy on Fairfield Street
Young doodlers and dreamers of the world, take heart--the famous Dr.  Seuss, creator of Whos and Sneetches, was a doodler and dreamer, too.  Kathleen Krull's engaging picture-book biography of Ted Geisel, the real  Dr. Seuss, takes us from his early childhood on Fairfield  Street in Springfield, Massachusetts, to the time when he's 22 years old  in Greenwich Village and just starting to think he might make a go of it as a person who draws flying cows. Krull tells a lively story,  carefully including details that help us understand how Seuss became  Seuss, from playground injustice (Geisel was a German American and World  War I loomed large) to his love forKrazy Katcomics.Steve Johnson and Lou Fancher, who also illustrated Seuss'sMy Many Colored  Days, cast Seuss's childhood in a nostalgic light with lovely,  old-fashioned paintings. A four-page section in the back picks up Seuss's story again,  taking us to 1937 when he launches his children's book career withAnd to Think That I Saw It  on Mulberry Streetand all the way to his death in 1991. A  complete list of Seuss's books and recommendations for further research closes this fascinating look at one of America's most beloved  creators of children's books. (Ages 8 and older)--Karin Snelson