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Into History.

com. It's July 1st, 1914, and a small zoo in Springfield, Massachusetts.

Ten-year-old Theodore Geisle, or Ted to his friends, sits down on a bench with his mom in front of one of the zoo's main attractions.

A lioness prowls back and forth in her small enclosure.

Just beyond the steel bars, a row of nervous kids shattered and point at the animal. But Ted isn't here to gawk like the rest of them. He glances at his mom who nods her encouragement.

Ted pulls a pencil and pad of paper from his bag, and after a moment he starts sketching.

As Ted's drawing of the lioness starts to take shape, his mom peers over his shoulder,

a hint of a smile on her face. Ted is young, but already his parents his

hint of a smile on her face. Ted is young but already his parents can see a talent in the boy which they are eager to encourage.

And after five minutes of furious scribbling, a triumphant Ted flips the sketchpad around and proudly displays

his work to his mother.

His style is more cartoon than portrait, but there's no denying the boy has a gift.

Ted's mom beams and tells him how proud she is of him.

But Ted is already running off with his pad and pencil to the next animal enclosure and his next drawing. Ted Geisle's fascination with drawing won't ever be a passing face.

It's a gift that will one day make Ted famous all over the world, and his artwork will help launch national

advertising campaigns as well as drum up support against America's enemies in World War II.

But it's his animal drawings which will be remembered most fondly, and none more so than the character

gracing the cover of The Cat in the Hat, a children's book by Ted Geissel, better known as

Dr. Seuss, that will be released on March 12th, 1957.

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