Next week will see the publication of the first new Dr. Seuss book since before the author and illustrator passed away in 1991. Some books he wrote have been released in the ensuing years, but they were either compilations of magazine pieces or didn't combine true Seussian text and illustrations as will What Pet Should I Get?
Theodor Seuss Geisel's widow Audrey was remodeling their home in the months after Theodor passed away, and she found the manuscript and black-and-white line drawings of Pet. Mislaid soon after, Audrey and Geisel's friend and secretary Claudia Prescott found it again in 2013. Geisel's former art director thinks it was written sometime between 1958 and 1962 along with One Fish, Two Fish, Red Fish, Blue Fish, because it features the same characters. She also points out how it's less about getting a new pet and more about learning how to make decisions, which is probably welcome news for any parents who allow their children to pick their own candy from a display with more than one item.
The only additional "non-Seussian" work added to Pet was the coloring, and judging by the previews that BuzzFeed displays it looks to match Seuss's own work quite well. Although certainly not of the literary weight of the recent Harper Lee rediscovery, the provenance of Pet seems on a lot more solid ground even though its author is no longer here to vouch for it.
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