GOLDSMITH AND MY MANY COLORED DAYS
The year was 2015, October. I was strolling through the shelves of Books A Million towards my favorite section of the store, Dr. Seuss’ books. This was the year when I really began my pursuit of higher education in all things Seuss. What inspired him? How did he begin? How long did it really take to write Green Eggs & Ham? At this point in time I was indeed becoming quite the expert and was sure I knew almost everything there was to know, the least of all, the books he had written! I mean, come on? I knew the classics and Mr McElligot’s Pool, Yertle the Turtle, Horton Hears A Who, what more could there be? Ahh, and how my world came tumbling down when I saw on that shelf a book I had never heard of BY DR. SEUSS! Ok, my world didn’t shatter, more like an incredibly pleasant surprise. I picked up, My Many Colored Days, from that shelf and dove in.
Although written by Dr. Seuss himself, he never intended or wanted to illustrate it. After his death in 1991, the responsibility and honor was passed on to Steve Johnson and Lou Fancher. It is a challenge to illustrate anyone’s book, let alone THE Dr. Seuss. The book itself does not follow the usual Seuss way of whimsical worlds and sneetches, instead it turns to self reflection, specifically focusing on how our emotions can be reflected in nature and through color.
“You’d be surprised how many ways I change on Different Colored Days.
On Bright Red Days how good it feels to be a horse and kick my heels.
On other days I’m other things.
On Bright Blue Days I flap my wings.”
I was intrigued by this new discovery and more than anything by it’s publication date, 1996. Almost immediately I had an idea. I have always dreamed of re-illustrating a Dr. Seuss book but I mean, you can’t separate his illustrations from his stories! They just wouldn’t be the same without them! Unless…. you know…. he had a book that he wrote but didn’t illustrate, which do exist but I hadn’t found one that I could plausibly pitch or find reason to be re-illustrated.
So why this book?
Because, Pixar’s Inside Out had just come out really beginning the conversation of kids, their emotions, and even the color psychology behind it. And the next year, 2016, would mark the 20th anniversary of the release of this book, My Many Colored Days. Even after all my research I had never heard of this specific book, so why not give it a relaunch and a fun anniversary edition during a time when emotions were being discussed and in the spotlight.
So naturally I did what anybody would do, I googled. A lot. I googled who I would need to talk to, who was the Director of Random House Children’s Division? Who was the last one there who had worked with Seuss himself? I found all my answers and even better, when I tried to google the email for my contact, all I found was a phone number. (Full Disclosure: every fact I found was public information and what happened to pop up, none of those weird finding people and their numbers websites) It said it was for Cathy Goldsmith, who was conveniently the director AND the last one working at Random House who had worked directly with Dr. Seuss. Let me just add here that Cathy Goldsmith is a BIG deal. She works at the top and is the best, her and her team will not even review a book unless it comes through an agent. Most likely an agent they’ve been working with for years. I had no grounds and they had zero obligation to listen to anything I had to say. I had no idea if it truly was her number or not, but I knew I couldn’t waste the chance if it was. I knew I would need to be ready, have a proposal and sample illustrations. I couldn’t make the call and say “I’ll have the proposal to you tomorrow”, I needed to be able to say, “I can send it to you now.” And so, I spent the next few months doing just that. I created storyboards, pulled out my watercolors and began.
A few months later I finished and on, January 12, 2016, I dialed the number. All I got was an answering machine and I left a message saying that I was calling to discuss the Seuss Project with Cathy Goldsmith. I waited a week and had no response. So when the next day came around I called again. Left another message. The very next day I received a call from her executive editor asking me why I was calling her house phone. (I’d say google is responsible for that.) I apologized immediately and told her I didn’t realize it was her personal phone and that I wouldn't call again, and then I told her the reason I had been calling.
Her first response was to tell me it is not normally their habit to recreate a classic illustrated by critically acclaimed artists, with someone they’ve never heard of. I told her nobody had ever heard of Dr. Seuss ability to illustrate a children’s book either until somebody gave him a chance. Regardless of her skepticism, she agreed to read my proposal and show it to Cathy Goldsmith.
The next day I got an email that in other words said… no.
Fast forward to this year, 2020, April. Emory University is hosting a competition to write and illustrate a book about COVID-19 that is realistic and equally refreshing. They gave a list of criteria and expectations that was actually very challenging to create with, how do you take something as tragic as COVID-19 and make it charming? Making it appropriate for children but also honest? I had no idea what I was going to do but immediately I thought of Dr. Suess’, My Many Colored Days. You could say my homework and research from five years ago finally paid off. Inspiring me to use color psychology to introduce this hard topic and reality to children and introduce a language for them to be able to articulate how they feel.
I’d also like to say that next year is 2021, the 25th anniversary of My Many Colored Days… perhaps I should call again? Maybe they're working on a 25th anniversary edition in need of an illustrator?
If so, then I’ll end this exactly how I ended my proposal five years ago.
“Why me? Why should I receive the honor of illustrating a Dr. Seuss book? You’ve never heard of me, but no one had ever heard of Dr. Seuss’ ability to write and illustrate children’s books until someone gave him a chance. I am asking for a chance. Dr. Seuss was rejected 27 times before his book came to life. Let me be your 28 to bring new life to this Seuss classic.”