Puffin snaps up previously unpublished Dr Seuss title

Puffin Books has snapped up the UK and Commonwealth rights to a previously unpublished Dr Seuss book about art history.

Dr Seuss’s Horse Museum will be published this September, 28 years the author’s death, and explores the history of art via a horse. It features more than 30 reproductions of iconic artworks by artists such as Picasso and Manet, and cameos from Dr Seuss characters such as the Cat in the Hat and the Grinch.

Seuss, the pen name of Theodore Geisel, completed 80% of the manuscript before his death and the story was found in his papers along with What Pet Should I Get?, which was published in the UK by HarperCollins in 2015. The artwork was finished by Australian illustrator Andrew Joyner.

Puffin, part of Penguin Random House Children’s, acquired UK and Commonwealth rights from Random House US and ICM Partners, together with Dr Seuss Enterprises. The book will be published in the UK on 5th September in hardback. Random House Children’s US will publish the title two days earlier. 

Francesca Dow, m.d. of Penguin Random House Children’s, said: “We’re so pleased to publish this truly imaginative take on art history, from the inimitable Dr Seuss. With his hallmark humour, this is an inside look into the imagination of Seuss and how he viewed the art that is everywhere in the world. This unique and charming book is a stellar addition to Puffin’s growing illustrated non-fiction list, and we are thrilled to partner with Random House Children’s US for a global publication this September.”

In the UK Seuss has sold 4.2 million books for £22.8m since 1998. The Cat in the Hat is his biggest seller in the BookScan era, at 205,222 copies.