Rediscovered Dr. Seuss Book Set for July Release

Good new for sneetches, star-bellied and otherwise—a lost Dr. Seuss work, recently discovered in the beloved writer’s old home by his widow, will be published this summer. The new book, What Pet Should I Get?, will confront a dilemma that has plagued children since the dawn of time, hopefully finally settling the “dog versus cat versus goldfish” debate that has raged through the centuries. The Seuss website calls What Pet Should I Get?, “the literary equivalent of buried treasure,” and says the book uses the issue of pet choice “to illuminate a life lesson: that it is hard to make up your mind, but sometimes you just have to do it!”

Original illustration for the rediscovered work

Not to let Harper Lee grab all the lost-sequel-manuscript glory, the new book appears to be something of a follow up to One Fish Two Fish Red Fish Blue Fish, and features the same brother-and-sister team that first brought us an important lesson in psychedelic ichthyology more than half a century ago. Seuss, whose real name was Theodor Geisel, put out his last full book, Oh the Places You’ll Go, in 1990, but his best-selling works have remained fantastically popular and influential over the years. This is not the writer’s first posthumous book; last September, Horton and the Kwuggerbug and Other Lost Stories, collected a number of previously unseen Seuss projects originally published in the ‘50s. What Pet Should I Get? is just one of three newly rediscovered Geisel manuscripts, so look out for more Seuss news over the coming months. The book is currently available pre-order for $17.99.