Interesting and Little-Known Facts

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DR.SEUSS - Everyone loves Dr. Seuss's books, but very few students know his real name - Theodor Geisel. I especially appreciate his books because I had a very hard time learning to read, and Dr. Seuss made me laugh while I learned. Here are a few surprising facts about Dr. Seuss: 1. Theodor Geisel's real middle name was Seuss. 2. For many years, Geisel was a cartoonist and illustrator for grownups' publications before he started writing and illustrating children's books. 3. Dr. Seuss had a very hard time getting his first children's book published. 28 publishers turned down And to Think That I Saw It on Mulberry Street before a publisher accepted the book.

BEATRIX POTTER - Beatrix Potter is one of my favorite children's book authors and illustrators. You know her as the author and illustrator of Peter Rabbit. She is special to me because she is an example of a very determined young woman who just wouldn't take no for an answer- when it came to getting her stories and art published. She also was interested in everything from art to sheep. Here are some interesting and little-known facts about Beatrix Potter: 1.At first, no publisher wanted to publish Peter Rabbit. Beatrix Potter took her own savings and paid for the first printing. 2.Beatrix had a real pet rabbit named "Peter". She put Peter on a leash and walked him through her neighborhood in London. 3.Many of her books began as letters to children. Her letters included ink sketches that often were the beginning of the paintings in her books. 4.Beatrix Potter had two very separate lives. She fell in love with her publisher. He edited her writings and talked with her about making changes in her art. In time, they were engaged, but he died before they could get married. She wrote a few books after he died, but not many and not her best ones. Later she married a lawyer who lived in the country. Potter left London for a life in the country. She quit writing and drawing all together, and became one of England's greatest sheep farmers.

MAURICE SENDAK - I like Maurice Sendak's stories and his wonderful art. Where the Wild Things Are is a favorite story for many children and grownups. One afternoon I was listening to National Public Radio and heard an interview with Sendak. He shared with the audience a very interesting, and little-known fact about the Wild Things book: When Sendak first wrote this book he titled it "Where the Wild Horses Are." There was just one problem, he didn't draw horses very well. When he sent the story and the drawings to the publisher, his editor wrote back to say the story was good, but the horse drawings were not very good. The editor said, "Why don't you call the book 'Where the 'Wild Things Are?' and go from there" Sendak took the advice and made the wild things those great monsters we all love.

MICHELANGELO - Michelangelo was the famous artist that painted the ceilng of the Sistine Chapel in Rome. Everyone all over the world loves his work. I like his work so much that I have a coffee mug on my desk decorated with one of his paintings from the ceiling. Here are a couple of surprising facts about Michalangelo and his work: 1. Today everyone calls him Michaelangelo, but his whole name was Michangelo Buonarroti. When he was alive, many called him 'Buonarrati'. 2. The Sistine Chapel paintings have made Michelangelo famous for hundreds of years, but he considered himself a sculptor first. 3. He loved marble and thought about the rock in a very unusual way. He often told friends that he felt there was a figure already in the marble and his job was to carve away the part of the stone that hid that figure. 4. Michelangelo's figures always look like they were caught at the moment of an action. His figures look like this because Michelangelo put a twist at their waist, neck, or arm.

Clown by Picasso HENRI MATISSE - Matisse is one of my favorite artists because he worked with torn and cut paper. He also liked a bright blue color that is one of my favorite colors. Here are a couple of interesting facts about Matisse and his friend Pablo Picasso (also one of my favorite artists). 1. Today, Pablo Picasso may be considered a more famous modern artist than Matisse. Picasso and Matisse were great friends. At the time of their friendship, Matisse was very famous and Picasso was always jealous of Matisse's work and fame. 2. When Picasso and Matisse visited each other, they were both inspired to work harder and do better than the other. They would each go home and create something more amazing than anything they had ever made.

AGATHA CHRISTIE - Christie was an English writer of grownups' mystery stories, but she was a great mystery herself. Here are a few of the interesting and mysterious things I know about her: 1. Christie wrote several mystery stories about people getting poisoned. She really knew all about chemicals because she worked in a hospital laboratory during World War II. 2. One day Agatha Christie disappeared. No one knew where she had gone or whether she was dead or alive. The whole country went searching for her. 3. She reappeared after a week and never told anyone where she went or what she did. When she wrote the story of her life, she completely left out this part of her life story!

REMBRANDT VAN RIJN - Rembrandt is another great artist whose work I appreciate. Here are a few interesting facts about this great man. 1. Rembrandt is famous for paintings of people. He was a master of painting the light on and around his figures. When you look at a Rembrandt painting, look as closely as you can to discover his secret of painting light. 2. When Rembrandt was alive sometimes he was rich and famous, and sometimes he was poor and no one liked his work. Although his paintings sell today for millions of dollars, he died a poor man.

All images and text copyright Ann Fearrington, 2000