Dr. Seuss fans might find their hearts growing three sizes this coming holiday season with the release of a sequel to the 1957 classic children's book How the Grinch Stole Christmas! The new book picks up one year after the original, and like the first, it teaches a valuable lesson about the true spirit of the holiday, Dr. Seuss Enterprises and Random House Children's Books announced Thursday. The sequel—How the Grinch Lost Christmas!—isn't based on a newly discovered manuscript by Seuss, whose real name was Theodor Geisel, but was written and illustrated by an author and artist with previous experience in the Dr. Seuss universe. Geisel died in 1991.
"One of the most asked questions we receive from Seuss fans of all ages is: 'What do you think happened to the Grinch after he stole Christmas?'" Alice Jonaitis, executive editor at Random House Children's Books, said in a statement. The original Grinch book has sold nearly 10 million copies in North America alone and, like other Seuss books, has been translated into multiple languages. It was made into a 1966 animated TV special narrated by Boris Karloff, a 2000 live-action movie starring Jim Carrey, and a computer-animated film in 2018 with Benedict Cumberbatch voicing the Grinch. The new book, scheduled for release Sept. 5, is written by Alastair Heim and illustrated by Aristides Ruiz.
Heim has written Seuss-themed books like If I Ran Your School and I Am the Cat in the Hat, while Ruiz has illustrated the Cat in the Hat's Learning Library books for more than two decades. "All throughout writing the story, I couldn't fully believe that I was actually getting to play in the amazing creative sandbox Dr. Seuss created all those decades ago," Heim says. Working on the Grinch sequel was an awesome responsibility, Ruiz says. "When I heard of the opportunity to be a part of this project, I jumped at the chance only to find that it was difficult and daunting to approach adding to or expanding such an esteemed and treasured part of the American Christmas canon," he says.
story continues below
In the sequel, the Grinch wants to show how much he loves the holiday by winning Who-ville’s Christmas Crown with the most spectacular Christmas tree ever seen, according to Dr. Seuss Enterprises. But when his plan goes awry, the Grinch turns into his old, cold-hearted self, until his friend Cindy-Lou Who, reminds him that Christmas is not all about winning.
(More
Dr. Seuss' How The Grinch Stole Christmas! stories.)
,
uBlock 
,
and
Ghostery 
)
