Ever read Dr. Seuss’ books to your kids? Perhaps on your own, just to clear your mind?
Quoting Dr. Seuss, I have this to say to you, “If you never did, you should. These things are fun and fun is good.”
I’ve compiled a complete list of Dr. Seuss’s books, in order of publication, from “And To Think That I Saw It On Mulberry Street (1937)” to “Oh, The Places You’ll Go! (1990).” I have also added three books that were published after Dr. Seuss’s death.
Finally, first off, let’s read about the man behind one of the most famous pen names in history.
Our Best Dr. Seuss Books at a glance:
From the list, here are the most popular five Dr. Seuss books of all time.
- The Cat in the Hat
- Green Eggs and Ham
- How the Grinch Stole Christmas!
- Oh, The Places You’ll Go!
- Fox in Socks
Who Was the Man Behind Dr. Seuss?
Actually, Dr. Seuss was one of the many pen names of a man who was born Theodor Seuss Geisel in Missouri in the spring of 1904.
Geisel—a man whose other pen names were Theo LeSieg, Rosetta Stone, and Theophrastus—was an American children’s author, illustrator, political cartoonist, animator, poet, screenwriter, and filmmaker.
And a husband, to two wives, well, not polygamously.
He did his undergraduate studies at Dartmouth College, then his postgrad at Oxford University. After leaving Oxford, he wrote his first book, “And To Think That I Saw It On Mulberry Street” while working in the advertising industry.
During WWII, to help the war effort, he joined the animation and film department of the United States Army. The war created a gap of 7 years between “Horton Hatches the Egg (1940)” and “McElligot’s Pool (1947)”, the longest gap between any of his consecutively published books.
A truckload of books and two wives later, he died a best seller and one of the best writers and cartoonists of all time. His Dr. Seuss characters and books like “How the Grinch Stole Christmas” have now become franchises and the adaptations have grossed respectable sums.
A Complete Catalog of Books by Dr. Seuss
Here is the complete list of the books written by Dr. Seuss. The books have been arranged in chronological order.
- And To Think That I Saw It On Mulberry Street (1937)
- The 500 Hats Of Bartholomew Cubbins (1938)
- The King’s Stilts (1939)
- Horton Hatches the Egg (1940)
- McElligot’s Pool (1947)
- Thidwick The Big-Hearted Moose (1948)
- Bartholomew And The Oobleck (1949)
- If I Ran the Zoo (1950)
- Scrambled Eggs Super! (1953)
- Horton Hears A Who! (1954)
- On Beyond Zebra (1955)
- If I Ran The Circus (1956)
- The Cat in the Hat (1957)
- How The Grinch Stole Christmas (1957)
- Yertle The Turtle And Other Stories (1958)
- The Cat In The Hat Comes Back! (1958)
- Happy Birthday To You! (1959)
- Green Eggs And Ham (1960)
- One Fish Two Fish Red Fish Blue Fish (1960)
- The Sneetches And Other Stories (1961)
- Dr Seuss’s Sleep Book (1962)
- Dr Seuss’s ABC (1963)
- Hop on Pop (1963)
- Fox In Socks (1965)
- I Had Trouble In Getting To Solla Sollew (1965)
- The Cat in the Hat Song Book (1967)
- The Foot Book (1968)
- I Can Lick 30 Tigers Today! And Other Stories (1969)
- My Book About Me (1969)
- I Can Draw It Myself (1970)
- Mr Brown Can Moo! Can You? (1970)
- The Lorax (1971)
- Marvin K. Mooney Will You Please Go Now! (1972)
- Did I Ever Tell You How Lucky You Are? (1973)
- The Shape Of Me And Other Stuff (1973)
- Great Day For Up (1974)
- There’s a Wocket in my Pocket! (1974)
- Oh, The Thinks You Can Think! (1975)
- I Can Read With My Eyes Shut! (1978)
- Oh, Say Can You Say? (1979)
- Hunches In Bunches (1982)
- The Butter Battle Book (1984)
- You’re Only Old Once! (1986)
- I am Not Going to Get Up Today (1987)
- Oh, The Places You’ll Go! (1990)
After his death, there were three Dr. Seuss books that were published in the 90s.
The first was ‘Daisy-Head Mayzie’ published in 1994, followed by ‘My Many Colored Days’ published in 1996, and, lastly, ‘Hooray For Diffendoofer Day!’ which was published in (1998)
‘Daisy-Head Mayzie’and ‘Hooray For Diffendoofer Day!’ were written posthumously and were based on his sketches and notes.
‘My Many Colored Days’ had already been written by Dr. Seuss back in 1973 but saw the printer a couple of years after he died of cancer. According to his biography, Dr. Seuss knew he was terminally ill, so he made the decision to publish this book as his farewell gift.
the Best Dr. Seuss Books to read
1. The Cat in the Hat
In this book, the writer extraordinaire used only 225 words to write a book that would go on to become a game-changer in children’s literature.
Dr. Seuss wrote “The Cat in the Hat” in 1957 after the common one-dimensional, unimaginative primers were criticized for contributing to growing illiteracy among children.
Set on a rainy day, a wild adventure-filled story of Dick, Sally, and a cat in a red-and-white striped hat changed children’s literature forever and cemented Dr. Seuss’ berth in children’s literature.
This book is a delightful piece for early readers and pre-readers alike.
2. Green Eggs and Ham
In this book, Dr. Seuss uses 72 pages, 50 unique words, lots of illustrations, and a couple of simple exciting rhymes to suggest to readers the many ways and places to enjoy green eggs and ham— be it in a box, with a fox, with a goat, or on a boat.
The book is great for young, early readers and uses simple words and rhymes complemented by illustrations. Kids will enjoy the book as they follow Sam-I-Am’s suggestions of places and companions to enjoy green eggs and ham with.
3. How the Grinch Stole Christmas!
This is one of my personal favorites, I love me a good Christmas story.
So, in a cave lives the Grinch—a grouch who hates Christmas—and his dog Max. The Grinch wants Christmas canceled and makes sinister plans to disrupt the merry holiday. But, the unsuspecting warm hearted Whos, down in Whoville, are thirstily waiting for their favorite holiday—Christmas.
This is a Christmas classic that encourages people—especially kids—the spirit of doing good deeds.
This book has had a fun time on the screen too, and before Jim Carrey was the Grinch in 2000, there was the voice of Boris Karloff in a cartoon special back in 1966.
4. Oh, The Places You’ll Go!
“Oh, The Places You’ll Go!” was the last book to be published before Dr. Seuss died in 1991, it was published in 1990.
It’s so wonderful that Dr. Seuss’s unintentional parting gift was this classic motivational book. This is that perfect book you give to someone who’s graduating, just to tell them that the journey starts with them and they can go wherever and become whoever they aspire.
The minute they turn the first page, they’ll love it! “Congratulations! Today is your day. You’re off to Great Places! You’re off and away!”
5. Fox in Socks
Looking for a leisurely way to deal with stress? Or you just want to send the kiddo to dreamland with a smile…
The best thing you can read is some hokum that a slick fox in socks says as he dishes a hatful of hilarious tongue twisters to Mr. Knox.
“Here is lots of new blue goo now. New goo. Blue goo. Gooey. Gooey. Blue goo. New goo. Gluey. Gluey.”
“When tweetle beetles battle with paddles in a puddle, they call it a tweetle beetle puddle paddle battle.”
This is a silly light read that will lift your spirits and put a smile on any kid.
How Many Books Did Dr. Seuss Write?
Under the Dr. Seuss pen name, Geisel published 45 books, but a couple more works that he left finished or unfinished have been published posthumously.
His catalog is littered with the most popular children’s books of all time, and there have been over 600 million copies sold. His works have also been adapted to successful short films, feature films, and TV specials.
Finally: Dr. Seuss – A Father We Never Had
So, I never mentioned this in the short bio, but Ted Geisel never had biological kids of his own. His most popular quote on having kids was, “You have ’em; I’ll entertain ’em.”
Nevertheless, he sounds like he could have been a wonderful, inspirational father.
Well, he can take solace in the fact that some wonderful daddies read us some great Dr. Seuss stories.
As you wind up this great informative read, here are some wisdom-filled quotes from the Doc.
“Don’t cry because it’s over. Smile because it happened.”
“He who makes a beast out of himself gets rid of the pain of being a man”
“So be sure when you step, step with care and great tact. And remember that life’s A Great Balancing Act. And will you succeed? Yes! You will, indeed! (98 and ¾ percent guaranteed) Kid, you’ll move mountains.”
