Helen Palmer (author) facts for kids

Helen Marion Palmer Geisel (born September 16, 1898 – died October 23, 1967) was an American author, editor, and helper of good causes. She is best known as Helen Palmer. She was married to the famous author Dr. Seuss, whose real name was Theodor Seuss Geisel. They were married from 1927 until her death.

Helen Palmer wrote several popular children's books. These include Do You Know What I'm Going to Do Next Saturday?, I Was Kissed by a Seal at the Zoo, Why I Built the Boogle House, and A Fish Out Of Water. She played a very important role in Dr. Seuss's career.

Helen Palmer's Life Story

Early Life and Education

Helen Palmer was born in New York in 1898. She grew up in a nice neighborhood in Brooklyn called Bedford–Stuyvesant. When she was a child, she got sick with polio, but she got better almost completely. Her father, George Howard Palmer, was an eye doctor. He passed away when Helen was 11 years old.

Helen was a very smart student. She graduated with honors from Wellesley College in 1920. After college, she taught English at Girls High School in Brooklyn for three years. Then, she moved to England with her mother to study at Oxford University.

Meeting Dr. Seuss

Helen met her future husband, Ted Geisel (who would become Dr. Seuss), while they were both studying at Oxford. Helen had a big impact on his life. She was the one who suggested he should become an artist instead of an English professor. She noticed that Ted's notebooks were always full of amazing drawings of animals.

Helen believed Ted could make a living from his drawings. She said, "Ted's notebooks were always filled with these fabulous animals. So I set to work diverting him; here was a man who could draw such pictures; he should be earning a living doing that." Helen and Ted got married in 1927. They never had children of their own.

Working Together and Success

After World War II, Ted Geisel worked in Hollywood. He turned some of his films for the government into movies for everyone to see. A movie company called RKO asked him to adapt one of his films. Helen joined him as a writer for this project. They both received credit for the finished movie, Design for Death. This film won an Academy Award in 1947 for best documentary.

For about ten years after the war, Ted focused on writing children's books. There was a big demand for new books for kids at that time. During this period, Helen was a huge source of encouragement and helped him edit his books. She supported him throughout much of his career.

Helen Palmer passed away on October 23, 1967, when she was 69 years old.

Helen Palmer's Books

Helen Palmer wrote several well-known children's books. Her most famous book is Do You Know What I'm Going to Do Next Saturday?, which came out in 1963. This book, along with two others, combined Helen's stories with real photographs by Lynn Fayman. The other books were I Was Kissed by a Seal at the Zoo (published in 1962) and Why I Built the Boogle House (published in 1964).

The pictures in I Was Kissed by a Seal at the Zoo were taken at the San Diego Zoo in Balboa Park, California. They showed children from a local school interacting with the zoo's animals and staff. Helen also took a short story by Dr. Seuss called "Gustav the Goldfish" and made it into a longer book. This book was called A Fish Out Of Water, and it was illustrated by P. D. Eastman.

See also

In Spanish: Helen Palmer Geisel para niños