One book, two books, red books ... actually, no. Rhyming conventions don't work for us, but they've always been a big part of Dr. Seuss' body of work. And now another generation of children will get a chance to experience that with a new collection of Seuss stories.
The collection is called "Horton and the Kwuggerbug and More Lost Stories." It was made available through Random House Tuesday and features familiar characters, such as Horton and the holiday charmer Mr. Grinch.
But there are also new characters, including the Kwuggerbug — who looks to be tap dancing on Horton's trunk. We keep calling the collection new, but the stories date back to the '50s when Suess, born Theodor Geisel, wrote stories for Redbook Magazine once a week. (Video via NBC)
Cathy Goldsmith at Random House told NPR Seuss' presentation when debuting those weekly stories was a lot like how many of us first heard them:
"He would gather everybody in a conference room and, first, he would read the words to you aloud, then he would show you the pictures."
According to Newsweek, we have Charles Cohen — a dentist in Massachusetts — to thank for the newly released stories. Cohen reportedly spent 25,000 hours studying Dr. Seuss after the author's death and stumbled upon a treasure trove.
"He kept seeing references to Dr. Seuss stories that he'd never heard and at first thought were just more misinformation. A trip to the magazine archives of the Boston Public Library proved otherwise. There, in Redbook issues from the 1940s and 1950s, Cohen discovered approximately 30 Dr. Seuss stories that had never made it into books."
Cohen told Newsweek he uncovered even more Seuss stories than the four within "Horton and the Kwuggerbug," but it might be awhile before we see those due to copyright issues. However, he is working on piecing together and releasing the first book Dr. Seuss ever tried to publish.
