Dr. Seuss is Back with a Brand New Book of Original Stories

While we lost a national treasure when acclaimed children's book author Theodor Seuss Geisel (aka Dr. Seuss) died in 1991 at the age of 87 children and parents still treasure the 43 illustrated books for kids that he authored.  Actually you can make that 44 as Random House is releasing a brand new book of original stories from Dr. Seuss on September 9, 2014 titled HORTON AND THE KWUGGERBUG AND OTHER LOST STORIES.  Horton and the Kwuggerbug and Other Lost Stories is a compilation of short stories feature beloved characters and settings that many of us will remember from other classic Dr. Seuss children's books that were originally published in during the 1950s in the magazine Redbook and than forgotten about.  Random House recently rediscovered these magazine features that were written and illustrated by Dr. Seuss and is sharing them with the world through the publication of this new book.

Horton and the Kwuggerbug and Other Lost Stories is a compilation of four short stories that were originally published in Redbook magazine and than largely forgotten about:  "The Hoobub and the Grinch", "How Officer Pat Saved the Whole Town", "Marco Comes Late", plus "Horton and the Kwuggerbug." 

 TM & copyright © by Dr. Seuss Enterprises, L.P. 2014 from Horton and the Kwuggerbug by Dr. Seuss

Marco Comes Late is based on the imaginative child from And To Think I Saw It on Mulberry Street, which was Dr. Seuss's first children's book published in 1937.  This short story explains why Marco ends up being late for school one day.

Photo: TM & copyright © by Dr. Seuss Enterprises, L.P. 2014 from Marco Comes Late by Dr. Seuss

Mulberry Street is featured in another of the short stories collected in this new book How Officer Pat Saved the Whole Town.  This story about a vigilant police officer takes place on Mulberry Street.

The Hoobub and the Grinch is a precursor to the 1957 book Grinch Who Stole Christmas that was published after this short story had already been circulated by Redbook.  It isn't the same Grinch that we are all familiar with from the holiday story but the two grinches share some thoughts about a hatred for mindless consumerism.

Horton and the Kwuggerbug tells the tale of how Dr. Seuss's popular elephant character confronts a crafty and manipulative insect.

We've read Dr. Seuss more times than I can count to our children and it will be nice to add some new content to our children's library with some brand new stories to read at bed time now.  It is nice that these are original works from Dr. Seuss and not someone writing an "inspired by" Dr. Seuss story.  Horton and the Kwuggerbug and Other Lost Stories are obviously a must-read if you have young children in your house. The book is available through Random House's website for $15.00.

Dr. Seuss apparently had features appear regularly in Redbook between 1950 and 1955 and Random House in 2011 already published seven of these short stories in a book titled The Bippolo Seed and Other Lost Stories.  So you may want to keep your eyes out in the near future as there may be additional collections of Dr. Seuss stories rediscovered from this Redbook treasure trove and published by Random House for people to enjoy.

RAZORS EDGE IS A FUN ROMP THROUGH THE CLASSIC STAR WARS UNIVERSE

I remember as a kid wanting to go beyond the Star Wars movies and read about the further adventures of Luke Skywalker, Han Solo and Princess Leia in books.  In the late 70s/early 80s though there wasn’t what is now referred to as “the Expanded Universe” of novels, cartoons, and so on.  I remember going to the library and book stores looking for Star Wars stories and having a hard time finding anything.  So that is why Alan Dean Foster’s  “Splinter of the Mind’sEye” is a classic for me that I still keep on my book shelf.  This 1978 novel follows the adventures of Luke Skywalker and Princess Leia in a time span shortly after the conclusion of events from the original Star Wars movie and was of the only early stories available about these heroes back then. It is rumored that this novel may also have been used as a backup script for a lower budget movie sequel if Empire Strikes Back’s blockbuster budget hadn’t been green lighted.  This was a fun romp of a story for a young grade school kid to enjoy that featured Darth Vader chasing after Luke & Leia who have been marooned on a dangerous swamp world.  As an adult, I enjoyed the story enough that I also went out and bought the Dark Horse comic book adaption of the story … which is also nice that it is illustrated similarly to the style of the StarWars comics by Marvel from the 70s and 80s.

Last month I read a new Star Wars book that reminded me a lot of “Splinter of the Mind’s Eye” called STAR WARS: RAZOR'S EGE.  Nebula Award finalist Martha Wells makes her Star Wars debut for the franchise’s Empire & Rebellion novel series with an action-packed adventure featuring Princess Leia, Han Solo, and Luke Skywalker – set just after the destruction of the Death Star in Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope.  The rebels are trying to build a new headquarters called Echo Base and Princess Leia is assigned to lead a secret mission to gather vital construction supplies through third party emissaries and smugglers, unfortunately pirates get in the way wanting the cargo for themselves.  Throw in to the mix that a spy has informed the Empire of this mission and Imperial spaceships are in pursuit while one of the pirate ships turns out to have a crew of survivors from Princess Leai’s destroyed home world of Alderaan who aren’t very happy with either the Rebels or Empire and you have a dynamic that will glue you to the pages of this book.  The author also provides a fresh approach to the story by focusing on Princess Leia as the main character with Luke, Han and Chewie in supporting cast roles.

I found Star Wars: RAZOR'S EDGE to be a fun and enjoyable read.  It reminded me of an era when Star Wars was brand new for both its characters and its fans.  If you enjoy “classic” Star Wars stories that have the vibe and energy of when this franchise was just coming alive in the late 70s you won’t want to miss out on reading this book.  Star Wars:RAZORS EDGE went on sale September 24, 2013 and you can find it at most online and brick-and-mortar book retailers. 

DISCLAIMER:  I was provided a complimentary digital pdf reviewers edition of this book to read by the publisher.  The opinions in this article are my own.

Happy 109th Birthday Dr. Seuss

Theodor Seuss Geisel ( aka Dr. Seuss ) was born on March 2, 1904  and he would have turned 109 years old TODAY! Theodor Geisel passed away in 1991 but still lives in the hearts of everyone who has ever read, or had read to them, childhood classics like the Cat in the Hat, the Lorax, How the Grinch Stole Christmas, And to Think That I Saw It on Mulberry Street, and If I Ran the Zoo.  During his career as a writer, poet, and cartoonist his use of imaginative characters, rhyme, and frequent use of trisyllabic meter was highlighted in 46 books that were published under the well-known pseudonym Dr. Seuss.  These books have both educated and entertained generations of children.  I know they are prominently included in my children’s library. Happy Birthday Dr. Seuss and thank you for being you!

This month KOHL’S is selling in its stores and online through its Kohl’s Cares foundation Dr. Seuss  books and toys for $5 each.  Kohl’s  department stores sell designated Kohl’s Cares kid-friendly merchandise with 100% of net profit from these sales donated to children’s health and education initiatives within the United States.  Since 2000, more than $208 million has been donated to charitable causes through the Kohl’s Cares program.  The Dr. Seuss items on sale are books (The Cat in the Hat, ABCs, Horton Hears a Who, Dr. Seuss’s Sleep Book, Happy Birthday to You, and the Dr. Seuss All Occasions Note Card Set) and stuffed animals (The Cat in the Hat, Horton, the Alligator and Red Rhino from ABCs, and Snoozapalo from the Sleep Book) are $5 each. Click here for more information.

 

I read to my 4 year old twins Dr. Seuss's "ABCs" book every day to help them with learning their letters and numbers.  As they have gotten older though, we've begun letting them use our PC and iPad to play with and learn from educational apps. Oceanhouse Media has done a nice job of publishing Dr. Seuss' works as interactive storybook apps for mobile IOS, Android, and Nook devices. We have several of these that we enjoy loaded on both my iPad and iPhone. In recognition of Dr. Seuss birthday they are giving away this weekend FREE two of their Dr. Seuss apps, Dr. Seuss Camera & Cat in the Hat Camera. CLICK HERE for more information.

 

The Dr. Seuss Camera apps let you use the camera on your iPhone or iPad to create images  personalized with your own photographs and incorporating Dr. Seuss’s artwork and characters. The apps feature:
 

• 16 cards based on original artwork by Dr. Seuss
• Take a picture with your face in the cutout or alongside the characters
• Load images from your Photo Library
• Add crazy borders and stamps to your cards
• Move, rotate, scale and delete stamps to further customize your cards
• Save cards to your Photo Library or e-mail them to family & friends

 

 

Dr. Seuss book publisher Random House also has an official website dedicated to the author www.seussville.com which is full of interactive features plus fun and educational activities, crafts, and learning tools for your kids.