Theodor “Ted” Seuss Geisel, better known as Dr. Seuss, on his last visit to his hometown of Springfield, Massachusetts in 1986. Photo courtesy of Springfield Union-News
A long-lost manuscript from the beloved author and illustrator Dr.
Seuss will be released next week, marking a quarter-century since his
swan song “Oh, the Places You’ll Go!” empowered us to move mountains.
The posthumous “What Pet Should I Get?” arrives July 28, two years after
the author’s widow unearthed the story’s text and sketches. It features
the siblings from “One Fish Two Fish Red Fish Blue Fish” on a trip to
the pet store, which we know is never that sensible with a Seuss book.
Philip
Nel, author of “Dr. Seuss: American Icon,” and Guy McLain, director of
the Wood Museum of Springfield History, discuss how the author’s
advertising beginnings gave way to Zooks and Zummers, pulling children’s
literature away from the tsk-tsking of the Dick and Jane books and
obliterating the boring belief that young readers ought to be prim and
proper.
Jessamyn West
