This summer sees the exciting release of a previously unknown manuscript by children's Author Dr Seuss aka Ted Geisel.

The American writer and illustrator was popular for his best-selling children's books such as The Cat in a Hat, Horton hears a Who! and famously How the Grinch stole Christmas. Many of these memorable stories eventually made it to screen too, with Actors like Jim Carey voicing the Grinch in the 2000 animated film directed by Ron Howard, and Mike Myers (Austin Powers, Waynes World) in the 2003 film release of Cat in a Hat.

Ted was born in 1904 and his career as a children's author started in the later 1920's and after working as an illustrator and cartoonist for Vanity Fair, Life, and various other publications he released his first children's book in 1937. 

The new discovery of "What pet should I get?" was made by his widow after remodelling her home when Ted passed in 1991. She had filed it alongside his other materials and didn't think about it's future until she rediscovered them a few years ago whilst cleaning out his office space with her longtime secretary and friend, Claudia Prescott.

“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,” Mrs. Geisel said in a statement.

The story revolves around a brother and sister who also featured in his classic "One Fish Two Fish Red Fish Blue Fish", this time exploring the possibilities of a new family pet, as the name implies. It is estimated that the manuscript was written and illustrated between 1958 and 1962, often revered as his most prolific period as a children's author.

The exciting new story will be published by Random House Publishing who said:

“To be able to share this newly discovered Dr. Seuss book that was created during a most prolific period in his career marks a special moment in children’s book publishing,”  

Barbara Marcus, President of Random House Children’s Books adds:

“The millions and millions of children and adults who have learned to love reading because of Dr. Seuss can now look forward to adding this treasure to their beloved collections.”

We look foward to seeing the reviews and wonder if this will be another hit amongst the animators and film producers looking for the next big screen adaptation!