They found his new book in a box. They didn’t find it with a fox.
On July 28, Random House will release a new book from Theodor Geisel, better known as beloved children’s author Dr. Seuss, who passed away in 1991 at the age of 87.
That book, titled What Pet Should I Get?, is a big event for Random House, which is planning an initial run of one million copies.
Here’s a summary of the book from Random House:
“This never-ever-before-seen picture book by Dr. Seuss about making up one’s mind is the literary equivalent of buried treasure! What happens when a brother and sister visit a pet store to pick a pet? Naturally, they can’t choose just one! The tale captures a classic childhood moment—choosing a pet—and uses it to illuminate a life lesson: that it is hard to make up your mind, but sometimes you just have to do it!”
Upon Geisel’s passing, his widow Nicole Geisel packed away Theodor’s drawings in a box. But in February, Random House announced that Nicole and Seuss’s longtime assistant Claudia Prescott had rediscovered a box of unfinished projects, including what became What Pet Should I Get?
According to The New York Times, What Pet Should I Get? began as 16 black-and-white illustrations and a series of Seussian rhymes labeled “The Pet Shop.” But with the help of Cathy Goldsmith, the last employee at Seuss Enterprises who actually worked with Geisel, What Pet Should I Get? became a reality.
Finding a trove of new Seussian material wasn’t a shock, according to Prescott.
“Ted always worked on multiple projects and started new things all the time—he was constantly drawing and coming up with ideas for new stories,” Prescott said in a statement by Random House in February.
So grab your kids and take the car—a bookstore can’t be very far. But if you don’t have any time, the book will be for sale online.
[Photos via Random House, AP]
