Lost Dr. Seuss stories to be published in September

August 15, 2011 |  2:52 pm

 

Seven stories published by Theodor Geisel five decades ago will find their way to readers in a new book coming from Random House. "The Bippolo Seed" is coming to shelves Sept. 27.
The stories were published in Redbook in 1950 and 1951, and included simple drawings which will be enlarged and more fully colored in the new collection."The stories are complete and satisfying -- they are not at all second-class citizens," Cathy Goldsmith, vice president and associate publishing director of Random House/Golden Books Young Readers Group, told Publishers Weekly.
Publishers Weekly reports on how those stories by Dr. Seuss became "The Bippolo Seed"; it took the help of Seussian Charles D. Cohen:

Cohen, who notes that there are some 30 stories from Geisel's "magazine period," explains that the selections in The Bippolo Seed mark a pivotal transitional point in the author's career. "This is Dr. Seuss exactly when he was becoming Dr. Seuss," he says. "From a chance encounter with a three-year-old who couldn't yet read but had memorized his Thidwick the Big-Hearted Moose, Geisel had realized the importance of using rhyme as a read-aloud, auditory experience. He'd observed German and Japanese children reared on propaganda during World War II and began to realize that, instead of that negative influence, he had a skill that could make a positive difference. He started writing with the rhythm and rhyme for which he's now known, and it tickles me to see the way that style and his expertise develop in this story collection, and to know that others will now be able to appreciate and enjoy it, too."

It will be the first time the seven stories in "The Bippolo Seed" have appeared in a book. Or as Dr. Seuss might say: One story, two story, old story, new story.