THE BOY ON FAIRFIELD STREET by Kathleen Krull

This blog was created for a TWU course.



Bibliography

Krull, Kathleen. 2004. The Boy on Fairfield Street: How Ted Geisel Grew Up to Become Dr. Suess. Ill by Steve Johnson and Lou Fancher. New York: Random House.


Summary

This book is about how Ted Geisel came to be Dr. Suess. The book starts out with Ted as a young boy living on Fairfield Street. Krull talked about how Ted did not get along with most kids his age. He felt that he did not fit in at home either. Ted did not have the same interest as most of his peers or his family. He liked to spend his time doodling strange and odd characters. These characters would become some of the famous characters in his Dr. Suess books. Ted's art did not exactly "follow the rules" and was not well received. Ted only ever took one art class and did not like going school. He went to college but ended up dropping out. He got a job drawing cartoons for a newspaper. The story ends with Ted moving to New York.

Analysis

While this is a biography of Dr. Suess it has the feel of a story. It gives you the facts and background of Ted Geisel in a very logical order. The first sentence of the book helps to draw you in also, "Once upon a time, there lived a boy who feasted on books and was wild about animals." The once upon a time reminds you of a fairy tale and gets kids attention. The illustrations help you to see Dr. Suess as a kid named Ted while he grows up. There are some of Dr. Suess' own drawing on each page. This helps to connect the story you are reading to the Dr. Suess that we all know.

Review Excerpts

Booklist review - "Krull’s pithy text is extended by full page
paintings that glow with the memory of yesteryear and
capture the mix of humor and poignancy that comes with
trying to fit in."


Hornbook Magazine review- "Krull does a good job of linking such early propensities with what turned up later, visually and thematically, in Geisel's books,..."


School Library Journal review- "This picture-book biography is a winner."

Connections
I think I would use this book mainly for character and self esteem. I think it is great that it shows someone that most kids know and have grown up with to be someone that didn't fit in as a kid. The book shows that he did not fit in and that his artwork did not "follow the rules." Yet he still did what he loved and turned out to be really successful. I would group this book with books of people that have similar stories. I think it is very important for kids to understand that you don't have to fit in or conform to everybody else's rules.