Customer Reviews:
 Dr. Seuss and His Perception of World War II June 23, 2006
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
Richard H. Minear examines and shows readers another side to Dr. Seuss. The cartoons discussed and shown in DR. SEUSS GOES TO WAR: THE WORLD WAR II EDITORIAL CARTOONS OF THEODOR SEUSS GEISEL portray a somewhat dehumanizing portrait of the axis powers during World War II. They are a 180-degree turn away from Seuss works that have enchanted and delighted many children and adults. However, these WWII era cartoons draw a picture of what fears and persceptions many had during the war. Art Spiegelman comments that these are the "lost" collection of cartoons by Seuss that were drawn for New York's PM newspaper from 1941-1942, and specifically served as a propaganda tool; the cartoons earned a Pulitzer Prize for Dr. Seuss.
However, they are much more controversial to present day standards, and capture the mindset of the time in which they were drawn. And the enemy were portrayed as animal-like, a flock of cats, and fumbling human-like characters with gross depictions, which share similarities of how political cartoons had been drawn during the nineteenth and early twentieth century. These cartoons are yet another collection and historical picture of the past, and cannot be compared to the Sunday funnies.
Minear attempts to keep an objective eye on his examination and commentary of each cartoon. However, Minear's commentaries through out the book have an inkling of being subjective and opinionated when he discusses how the Japanese are portrayed . He is often critical of Seuss's consistency and accuracy of the historical record.
Nonetheless, DR. SEUSS GOES TO WAR should be required reading in any history class that discusses World War perspectives. The issues in the book are historically, politically, and socially significant to World War II, and will help bring an understanding of this particular time in history.
 The great Doctor as political commentator! July 30, 2004
4 out of 4 found this review helpful
Anyone who has read Dr. Seuss (and, honestly, who hasn't?) knows that his books include a great deal of political and/or social commentary disguised as children's stories. What many people don't know is that Dr. Suess started as an advertising copy writer and, early in World War II, worked as an editorial cartoonist.
This is a collection of some of his best editorial cartoons from that period, together with a detail commentary that helps to place them in their historical context. These cartoons show that Dr. Seuss was bitterly opposed to isolationism, and was clearly way ahead of his time with respect to civil rights. Ironically, however, he demonstrates a distinct bias against the Japanese that almost feels racist.
This is a facinating glimpse into a largely overlooked chapter of a celebrated artist's career, and should be required reading for anyone who wants a better understanding of Dr. Seuss, the man.
Oh the Drawings He Drew July 14, 2004
5 out of 6 found this review helpful
Dr. Seuss Goes to War is a fascinating look at the political cartoons of Theodor Geisel, (Dr. Seuss). Seuss was hired to draw political cartoons for the New York newspaper PM in 1941 and remained through 1943. Seuss had already published his first children's book, To Think That I Saw It on Mulberry Street in 1937 but his other children's works were not created until after WWII. Two hundred of those roughly four hundred cartoons have found their way into Dr. Seuss Goes to War. Because these cartoons were drawn on a daily basis and reflected contemporary events they provide the reader with a fascinating window through which one can view life in America and the World during the war years. The book begins with a brief introduction by Art Spiegelman, the Pulitzer Prize winning author/illustrator of Maus. Spiegelman notes the eerie resemblance between the figures and animals drawn by Seuss and his later creations such as the Cat in the Hat, Myrtle the Turtle, and Horton. The cartoons themselves are divided into sections by topic, (the Home Front, Hitler & Nazi Germany, the Rest of the Word, etc.). Each section contains a very well written and thoughtful preface by historian Richard Minear. These explanatory sections are quite helpful in putting the cartoons into the context of the day and providing critical information about some of the then well known figures of the day (Father Coughlin, Pierre Laval and others) that may be unfamiliar to contemporary readers. Minear's commentary is particularly useful because it contains links between the information he provides by reference to the specific page number of a cartoon. The reader's enjoyment and understanding of the cartoon is enhancement by this treatment. As to the cartoons themselves, it is impossible to do justice to their power, wit, and whimsy. Seuss, and his newspaper PM, were strongly opposed to the isolationist movement in the U.S. in the months before America's entry into the war. As such Seuss pulled no punches when it came to directing his wrath at Charles Lindbergh and other isolationists. He mocked Hitler, Mussolini, Tojo, and Stalin (until the German attack on the USSR) and the Vichy French government. Seuss' treatment of the Vichy regime, most notably Pierre Laval, was positively brutal. Minear also includes a number of Seuss' cartoons attacking anti-Semitism and other racist, segregationist policies on the home front. In this area Seuss was well ahead of his time. Minear counterbalances this aspect of Seuss' world view by including Seuss cartoons lampooning Tojo, the Japanese military, and the Japanese people. Minear is quick to point out his disappointment at what he calls Seuss's ugly stereotyping of Japanese-Americans that he thought went beyond the bounds of acceptable commentary, even in the 1940s. Minear's disappointment is heightened by Seuss' otherwise enlightened approach to the treatment of Jewish and African Americans in the 1930s and 1940s.
On a purely emotional level, anyone who has ever read Dr. Seuss will enjoy looking at his political cartoons. The cartoons are both funny and thought provoking. The essence of Seuss's style of caricatures is fully in place and it is quite easy to see the physical similarity between the animals and people drawn by Seuss here and in his later children's works. This is a book that can be enjoyed by anyone who has ever read Dr. Seuss as a child. It will also be enjoyed by anyone with an interest in political cartoons or would like to explore how America viewed the world (through Seuss' eyes) between 1941 and 1943.
SKETCH THIS ONE A WINNER! EVEN WITHOUT THE GREEN EGGS ... May 30, 2003
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
Theodor Geisel gone political? That's right. The man responsible for "Green Eggs and Ham" and "The Cat in the Hat" and "The Grinch Who Stole Christmas" has a serious side: He repeatedly vilified Hitler and the Nazi threat in a series of political cartoons he penned in the '40s for the popular, liberal New York newspaper "PM." Author and historian Richard Minear has amassed nearly 200 of these imaginative illustrations in this important book --- illustrations that urge Americans to fight Hitler, buy U.S. bonds, help control inflation and support the war effort. The enemies are clear: Hitler, Stalin, Mussolini, Japan. Seuss' work is sharply critical of anti--Semitism and anti-Black racism, yet the images are shockingly and undeniably racist in their portrayal of Japanese Americans. (Remember the time frame --- 1941-1942 --- and American opinion at the time.) Sketch this one a winner.
Many of the cartoons revolve around imminent Axis threat May 15, 2003
Dr. Seuss Goes To War: The World War II Editorial Cartoons Of Theodor Seuss Geisel is a remarkable, memorable, and highly recommended collection of the barbed and sharp-witted editorial cartoons drawn by Theodor Seuss Geisel, who is perhaps best known as Dr. Seuss, the author of such popular favorite children's books as "Horton Hears a Who" and "The Cat in the Hat". The cartoons presented here date back to the dark years of World War II, when the Axis powers threatened to consume the world; many of the cartoons revolve around the imminent threat to America and the need to become involved before it was too late. The cartoons cease in late 1942 to early 1943 as Geisel himself went to war to protect his country. He survived the fighting but after the war was over he never returned to editorial cartoon work, but achieved an enduring literary legacy through creating children's classics with underlying meaningful themes.
|
