Hold on to your cat in the hat! Long lost Dr. Seuss book to be released

More than twenty years after his death a new Dr. Seuss book, "What Pet Should I Get?" will be published this summer.  

Gallop and galloon, wail, holler, and sway, a new Dr. Seuss book is on its way!

Random House Children’s Books announced Wednesday that a new Dr. Seuss book, "What Pet Should I Get?" will be published on July 28. The book’s contents are from manuscripts and illustrations discovered by Geisel’s widow Audrey Geisel, after his death while she was remodeling her home in La Jolla, Calif., according to a press release. Theodor Geisel, better known as Dr. Seuss, passed away in 1991 at age 87 and published his last book "Oh the Places You’ll Go" in 1990. 

Mr. Geisel set the work aside and it was untouched for over twenty years until it was rediscovered by Ms. Geisel and her husband’s longtime secretary and friend Claudia Prescott in 2013.

"While undeniably special, it is not surprising to me that we found this because 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," Ms. Geisel said. 

"What Pet Should I Get?" will feature the same brother and sister who appeared in 1960’s "One Fish, Two Fish, Red Fish, Blue Fish," and captures the excitement of a classic childhood moment – choosing a pet. Random House Associate Publishing Director Cathy Goldsmith says the book was likely written between 1958 and 1962.

At least two more books will be published from the materials discovered, though titles and publication dates have yet to be announced.

"We had no idea what we were in store for when Claudia notified us of the materials discovered in Ted's home," said Susan Brandt, president of Dr.Seuss Enterprises, L.P. "Pages and pages of manuscripts and sketches were laid out on the big glass dining room table. It was truly a magical moment, and we immediately knew this was more than just a box of sketches."

"What Pet Should I Get?" is the the second posthumous release from the Seuss collection. Last September, a lesser-known selection of Seuss’s drawings and stories were published in the "Horton and the Kwuggerbug and More Lost Stories" collection.

"The four stories in this book came from columns that appeared in Redbook magazine in the 1950s," Ms. Goldsmith told NPR. "Dr. Seuss actually wrote a piece once a month for Redbook."       

All of the freshly discovered Seuss material will be housed at the University of California at San Diego’s library, where the Dr. Seuss Collection is housed in the Geisel Library. Dr. Seuss wrote and illustrated 45 books during his lifetime, and his books have sold more than 650 million copies worldwide.