A new anthology of four previously unavailable stories by author and illustrator Theodor Geisel, or Dr. Seuss, is now available in book stores.
Featuring stories originally published during Geisel's short stint at Redbook in the 1950s, Horton and the Kwuggerbug and More Lost Stories features stories originally published as text-only magazine features, with less artwork than is typical in Dr. Seuss books.
"There is absolutely a kernel of the Dr. Seuss that everybody knows and loves in these stories," Margaret Willison, a librarian in Boston, told NPR.
Despite the slight stylistic change, the stories and artwork in the new collection feature iconic Seuss characters Horton and the Grinch, and some stories share the same classic setting as Seuss' debut children's book, Mulberry Street. Among the new characters are the self-centered Kwuggerbug who acts as naive Horton's new foil.
"Throughout, you can see [Geisel] play with tenses. That is really a trademark of his: 'He climbed and he climbed and he clum and he clum ... You see that wordplay all throughout these stories.'"
"I can't describe how remarkable it feels to have played a part in giving people ready access to these works again," biographer Charles Cohen told Newsweek. Cohen discovered the collection and played a part in settling the legal problems that initially stood in the way of publication.
Cohen says there are at least twelve more unpublished Seuss stories that could be stonewalled from wide release by similar legal roadblocks as Kwuggerbug, but that doesn't mean hope is lost for new Seuss stories.
"Although there are a dozen more 'lost' stories, that doesn't mean that the copyright issues can be resolved."
Horton and the Kwuggerbug and More Lost Stories is available at book stores for $15.