Horton and the Kwuggerbug and More Lost Stories is a collection of Dr. Seuss tales originally published in magazines in the 1950s. Nearly forgotten for 60 years, Random House released the first batch of similar stories in 2011 in a collection called The Bippolo Seed and Other Lost Stories. These new printings have brought to light tales that are largely unknown to today’s audience.
Published in September of 2014, Horton and the Kwuggerbug and More Lost Stories recalls classic characters such as Horton, the Grinch, and Marco from Mulberry Street. The illustrations and musical style of writing remain pronounced as in other Dr. Seuss tales.
We first encounter Horton, who, by his faithful promise of “a deal is a deal,” (along with his passion for Beezlenuts) will do almost anything the Kwuggerbug asks of him. This story requires the most imagination from the reader, due to limited illustrations.
Next, in “Marco Comes Late,” Marco must explain to his angry teacher why he arrived several hours late for class. As in, “And to think I saw it on Mulberry Street,” Marco’s imagination runs wild and he concocts an elaborate excuse. The stories’ conclusion teaches young readers that there is a difference between a story and a lie.
The third tale, “How Officer Pat Saved the Whole Town,” was deemed a favorite by both my children. In it, we meet a gnat, a cat, and Officer Pat. Officer Pat predicts a series of unfortunate events that could befall the town if the gnat chooses to bite the cat.
Lastly, in “The Hoobub and the Grinch,” we are greeted by a favorite Seuss villain, the Grinch. The slick and fast-thinking Grinch uses his powers of persuasion to convince the Hoobub that a green string holds monetary value and is indeed a very useful thing.
My son, who is in second grade and reads on grade level, struggled with some of the difficult words, but overall found it to be an easy read. My five year old exclaimed mid-story that she didn’t want the book to end!
The rhythmic nature of Dr. Seuss’ writing is melodic to the ear and encourages young readers to sound out never before seen words, just by knowing the pattern of the rhymes. I find these two aspects of Dr. Seuss’ style to be the most appealing.
Our family has a wide collection of Dr. Seuss tales, from Green Eggs and Ham to Mr. Brown can Moo! Can You? Horton and the Kwuggerbug and More Lost Stories makes a wonderful addition to this collection. It would also make a great gift for Seussian fans who are unaware that these stories exist.
Overall, this was a pleasurable read for the young and young at heart, with an overall rating of 4 out of 5.
Horton and the Kwuggerbug and More Lost Stories
Author: Dr. Seuss
Publisher: Random House Books for Young Readers
$15.00 / 56 pages / Ages 4-8
Meet the Reviewer!
Bryony Kowalewski is a native Northern Virginian and Virginia Tech grad. Her husband is a restaurateur, and together they have a 7 year-old boy and 5 year-old girl. Bryony is a huge Washington Nationals fan and spends the majority of her time cheering on her kids at their baseball and softball games.
