The Bippolo Seed and Other Lost Stories: trove of lost Dr Seuss stories

The Bippolo Seed and Other Lost Stories is a collection of "lost" Dr Seuss stories culled from short stories published in magazines like Redbook in the 1940s and 1950s, collected and reprinted for the first time.

The publication of a new Seuss collection is reason to celebrate in and of itself, and Bippolo Seed is more than a curiosity or a completist's collection of offcuts -- much of the material in this book stands with Seuss's best-loved work. The illustrations are classic Seuss and full of wit and irreverence, though the ratio of words to pictures is a lot wordier than the typical Seuss, owing, I suppose, to the constraints of the original magazine publication. If I had to choose a favorite from among these, it'd be "The Great Henry McBride," (MP3) about a young fellow who can't make up his mind on a single career and demands that the world accommodate his wish for excitement and novelty through his whole life.

Of course, pictures are only half the story with Seuss, an author who really demands that he be read aloud. Random House has released a companion audiobook featuring absolutely smashing celebrity readings from the likes of Neal Patrick Harris, Anjelica Huston, Joan Cusack (MP3), and William H Macy (MP3) (along with others), and you can really hear how delighted and honored the readers are for the chance to work with this material. I wouldn't recommend getting the CD without the book (because Dr Seuss's illustrations are so integral to the stories), but it is an indispensable companion.

The book is introduced by Charles D Cohen, "renowned Seuss scholar," who gives a wordy but fascinating history of the stories, providing some excellent critical context for them.

The Bippolo Seed and Other Lost Stories (Hardcover)

The Bippolo Seed and Other Lost Stories (Audiobook)

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(Images: TM & Copyright by Dr. Seuss Enterprises, L.P. 2011)

• [ROSSINDETROIT]

  These stories are lost?  I remember reading the one about the out of control growing fish when I was a kid.

  • [Cory Doctorow]

    The goldfish story here is, in fact, the lost predecessor to the one you remember. It’s a different story.

  • [hohum]

    That is ‘A Fish out of Water,’ based on this short story, but written by Geisel’s wife.
    http://www.amazon.com/Fish-Out-Water-Helen-Palmer/dp/0394800230

• [Mister44]

  I got lucky and bought ~30 Dr Suess books for $25 at a garage sale. It was before I was even married and had kids, but knew it was something for the future. My favorite story is “I Had some Trouble in Getting to Solla Sollew”.

• [jackbird]

  That appears to be the same rabbit and bear from The Big Brag in Yertle the Turtle and Other Stories (the titular story of which still gives me chills at the end after hundreds of readings). 

  Did Seuss do a whole series with those two?

• [CoquiELF]

  My daughter received this book as a birthday gift, and we’ve enjoyed working our way through the stories. ”Gustav the Goldfish” is the story most requested by the book’s recipient.

  Some don’t feel as fully-realized as much of the Seuss we know and love, and others obviously provided the genesis for books we do know – like “The Cat in the Hat Comes Back.” I live in PC-ville, and some of the stories have phrases or situations which make me cringe a little. Something that amused me – in our mostly vegetable-eating household I had to spend some time explaining what “steak” is, and I still don’t think our 4yo gets the premise of “Steak for Supper.”

• [Jason Weisberger]

  I ordered this from Amazon and it arrived the next day. I’ve already read it 2x. Its wonderful. Thanks for the heads up Cory.

• [Goodfella]

  How exciting, my kids will love this book. We have the full set of Dr Seuss.

• [chrismingryan]

  Hi Cory, thought you might be interested in a short profile piece on the Dentist who found the lost stories.  I produced this with The Daily last month. http://www.thedaily.com/page/2011/09/25/092511-arts-seuss-video/