Inside Seuss Inc.

BN-EH804_0828se_GS_20140828172802

Theodor Seuss Geisel (above) died in 1991. The LIFE Images Collection/Getty Images

Here is a brief excerpt from an article by Anna Russell for The Wall Street Journal. To read the complete article, check out others, and obtain subscription information, please click here.

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In the early 1950s, a former ad man and modestly successful children’s book author published a series of illustrated stories for children in magazines like Redbook. They were short, two-to-three page spreads with stamp-sized drawings and minimal coloring. He hoped to publish them in book form but another project gained steam.

In 1957, he published a book that became an immediate best seller, turning him into a global publishing phenomenon. By approaching learning to read as zany and fun instead of boring and dull, the book altered the children’s literature landscape. His name was Theodor Seuss Geisel and the book was called The Cat in the Hat. While some of the magazine stories eventually made it into a book during his lifetime, others never did.

On Sept. 9, Random House will publish Horton and the Kwuggerbug and More Lost Stories, the second collection of Dr. Seuss’s forgotten magazine work. The previous volume, The Bippolo Seed and Other Lost Stories, reached No.1 on the New York Times best-seller list when it was released in 2011. Random House is betting even bigger on Horton, with an extensive marketing campaign and a large first print-run of 250,000 copies. “It tickles me that a whole new generation will get to read and experience these characters, some new and some familiar,” said Audrey Geisel, Ted’s 93-year-old widow and head of his estate, Dr. Seuss Enterprises.

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Here is a direct link to the complete article.

Anna Russell is News Assistant at The Wall Street Journal for arts and culture. Previously, she held positions with the New York Daily News and Newsweek. She is a graduate of New York University,

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