Beginner Books is the Random House

Random House

Random House, Inc. is the largest general-interest trade book publisher in the world. It has been owned since 1998 by the German private media corporation Bertelsmann and has become the umbrella brand for Bertelsmann book publishing. Random House also has a movie production arm, Random House Films,...

 imprint for young children ages 4-8, co-founded by Phyllis Cerf

Phyllis Fraser

Phyllis Fraser Cerf Wagner was an American actress, journalist, and children's book publisher, and the co-founder of Beginner Books.-Early life:...

 with Ted Geisel, more often known as Dr. Seuss

Dr. Seuss

Theodor Seuss Geisel was an American writer, poet, and cartoonist most widely known for his children's books written under the pen names Dr. Seuss, Theo LeSieg and, in one case, Rosetta Stone....

, and his wife Helen Palmer Geisel

Helen Palmer Geisel

Helen Palmer Geisel was an American actress and author and the first wife of children's book writer Dr. Seuss. Her most well known book is Do You Know What I'm Going To Do Next Saturday?, published in 1963...

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Their first book was Dr. Seuss

Dr. Seuss

Theodor Seuss Geisel was an American writer, poet, and cartoonist most widely known for his children's books written under the pen names Dr. Seuss, Theo LeSieg and, in one case, Rosetta Stone....

's The Cat in the Hat

The Cat in the Hat

The Cat in the Hat is a children's book by Dr. Seuss and perhaps the most famous, featuring a tall, anthropomorphic, mischievous cat, wearing a tall, red and white-striped hat and a red bow tie. He also carries a pale blue umbrella...

(1957). The rest of the series was modeled on the requirement Seuss set himself in writing that book: for each book, the author was to use no more than 200 words taken from a list of 379 words compiled by Cerf as the basic vocabulary for young readers, along with twenty more slightly harder "emergency" words.

With only four titles in their catalog in 1958, they were earning a million dollars a year two years later, making Random House the largest publisher of children's books in America

United States

The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

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Among authors of early Beginner Books are:

• Theodor Seuss Geisel, writing as Dr Seuss when he illustrated his own stories, and as Theo LeSieg or Rosetta Stone when others did.
• Robert M.