1947 AD published
Geisel painted some of the water colors that illustrate McElligot's Pool while vacationing with his wife, Helen, at the summer home of their friend Kelvin Vanderlip, in Southern California.
The book was the first Dr. Seuss book to use water colors for its illustrations; however, because of budget concerns, Random House published half of the book in black and white, alternating between two pages in color and two pages in black and white.
Geisel dedicated the book to his father, whom the dedication refers to as "the World's Greatest Authority on Blackfish, Fiddler Crabs, and Deegel Trout." According to Dr. Seuss biographers Judith and Neil Morgan, "deegel trout" was a private joke between Geisel and his father that was started during a fishing trip when Geisel was a boy. His father had bought large trout from Deegel hatchery and pretended that they had caught them.
McElligot's Pool, Geisel's first book in seven years, was well received. It became a Junior Literary Guild selection and garnered Geisel his first Caldecott Honor.
The review in the Saturday Review of Literature stated, "Children will have nothing but admiration for this boy who heard there were no fish in McElligot's Pool and then saw them swimming in from the sea."
M.B. King of the Chicago Sun emphasized the book's humor, writing, "This time prepare to chuckle under water for you'll be meeting the weirdest, wildest, funniest creatures of the sea which imagination can conjur."
Lattitude: 40.7128° N
Longitude: 74.006° W
Region: North America
Modern Day United States
Subjects Who or What published?
-
Dr. Seuss (Theodor Seuss Geisel) Author of more than 60 c...
Objects To Whom or What was published?
-
McElligot's Pool The story begins with a ...
Timelines (that include this event)
Events in 1947 MORE
