P. D. Eastman and Dr. Seuss

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Found out this interesting information on author, P.D. Eastman and Dr. Seuss... (his illustrations are fantastic and clear in terms of story-telling)

Phillip Dey Eastman (1909 - 1986) was born in Amherst,

Mass., earning his B.A. from Amherst College in 1933.

He worked in production design & story at Walt Disney's

studio. While at Disneys he met Mary Louise Whitham, who

was working in the ink and paint department. They married

and Phil went on to work at Warner Brothers Cartoons.

By 1942 he had joined the Army and been assigned to the

Signal Corps Film unit. While there he did picture planning

for animated sequences in orientation and training films, and

was a writer and storyboard artist on the "Private Snafu"

series for Army-Navy Screen Magazine. Ted Geisel ( aka Dr.

Seuss) was the head of his unit.

In 1945 Phil was working at United Productions of America

(UPA). He was a writer and storyboard artist. While there he

helped create the character Mr. Magoo. He was co-writer of

the screenplay for "Gerald McBoing-Boing", which was based

on a childrens phonograph record written by Dr. Seuss. He

also wrote and storyboarded various educational films while

at UPA.

In 1954 moved his family to Westport, Connecticut. Ted

Geisel approached him to write for his new BEGINNER

BOOK series at Random House. By 1958 Random House

had published Phil now P.D. - Eastmans first childrens

book . He wrote and illustrated several books:

"Sam and the Firefly" 1958

"Are You My Mother?" 1960

"Go, Dog. Go!" 1961

"The Beginner Book Dictionary" 1964

"Everything Happens To Aaron!" 1967 ( out of print )

"The Best Nest" 1968

"Flap Your Wings" 1969

"Big DogLittle Dog" 1973

"The Alphabet Book" 1974

"What Time Is It?" 1978

He wrote:

"Snow" 1962

He illustrated:

"Fish Out Of Water" 1961

"Robert The Rose Horse" 1962

"Ill Teach My Dog 100 Words" 1973

There has been some confusion as to whether Dr. Seuss

and P.D.Eastman are the same person. As one of P.D.s son

I can assure you that they are not! The confusion has arisen

because of "The Cat In The Hat Beginner Book Dictionary" by

the Cat Himself and P.D. Eastman. My father co-wrote this

book with Seuss and did all of the illustrations. "The Cat

Himself" as used here is a pseudonym for Dr. Seuss.

Another incorrect piece of information that I have found

circulating on the internet involves his wife, Mary. She did not

work with him on these books. She is a photographer. She

has had her photographs published in four books. They are:

"Dark and Bloody Ground" with Mary Bolte Chatham Press 1973

"Haunted New England" with Mary Bolte Chatham Press 1972

"Frost, You Say?" with Marshall Dodge Chatham Press 1973

"To Be On An Island" with Constance Kiermaier and Bride

Whelan Down East 1980