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Newly Discovered Dr. Seuss Book To Be Released In July

By Chuck Sudo in Arts & Entertainment on Feb 18, 2015 6:50PM

2015_2_18_drseuss.jpg Our frozen Grinches hearts grew five times today with the news a new Dr. Seuss book is on its way.

That's as far as we'll go with rhyming and writing in anapestic tetrameter. Random House Books announced What Pet Shall I Get?, a recently discovered book containing full text and pictures by Theodor "Ted" Seuss Geisel, will be released July 28.

The book was discovered in a box of Geisel's papers two years ago by his widow, Audrey, and longtime secretary Claudia Prescott while cleaning out Geisel's office. The box, originally discovered by Audrey Geisel while remodeling her home after her husband's 1991 death, was left untouched for 22 years. In addition to the unpublished book, the box contains enough material that Random House and Audrey Geisel plan at least two more books.

As for What Pet Shall I Get?, it's believed Geisel wrote it between 1958 and 1962 and it serves as a companion to Seuss' 1960 classic One Fish Two Fish Red Fish Blue Fish—the same brother and sister in that book are in the upcoming tome.

Audrey Geisel has been a staunch defender of her husband's legacy since his death and said in a statement, "Ted always worked on multiple projects and started new things all the time — he was constantly writing and drawing and coming up with ideas for new stories." While Dr.Seuss books are still best sellers, it wouldn't seem like Audrey Geisel would approve a subpar manuscript for publication, so any fears of a "second Harper Lee novel" controversy should be alleviated.

[USA Today, Tribune]