A newly unearthed Dr. Seuss manuscript featuring the Cat in the Hat and celebrating the United States will be published to mark the nation’s 250th birthday.
The manuscript to “Sing the 50 United States” was discovered among archival materials at the Geisel Library at The University California San Diego earlier this year.
Theodor Geisel, who’s better known by his Dr. Seuss pen name, died in San Diego in 1991 after writing children’s classics including “How the Grinch Stole Christmas,” “Green Eggs and Ham” and “Horton Hears a Who!” Much of his work was donated to the university.
His 1957 book “The Cat in the Hat” introduced readers to the title character Geisel would revisit in several more writings.
The illustrations used in “Sing the 50 United States” were drawn by artist Tom Brannon. They were based on a cover sketch, notes and art direction left behind by Geisel. Random House plans to publish 500,000 copies of the book on June 2, 2026.
“Sing the 50 States” helps readers learn the names of all the nation’s states through song.
“To sing the 50 United States, you have to use your brain,” the Cat in the Hat says. “Massachusetts. Minnesota. Missouri and Montana. M-i-s-s-Mississippi. Maryland! Michigan and Maine!”
The 2015 Dr. Seuss book, “What Pet Should I Get?,” is so far the only posthumous release of a Geisel manuscript. His widow stumbled upon that fully developed story in 2013 while looking through a box of Geisel’s notes and sketches in the pair’s Southern California home, according to the New York Times.
With News Wire Services
