Yes, there really was a Dr. Seuss. He was not an official doctor, but his prescription for fun has delighted readers for more than 60 years. Theodor Seuss Geisel was asked by a friend to write a children's primer using 220 new-reader vocabulary words; the end result was The Cat in the Hat. While schools were hesitant to adopt it as an official primer, children and parents swarmed for copies. The Cat in the Hat catapulted him from pioneer in children's literature to definitive children's book author illustrator, a position he has held unofficially for many decades since.