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Did you all know that one of our country’s most devoted Seuss scholars is a dentist by day? Yes, his name is Dr. Charles D. Cohen, and he will tell you that his trove of Seussiana is likely the most comprehensive in the world. He brought readers this<\/a><\/strong> in 2004. <\/p>\n Dr. Cohen has written the introduction to The Bippolo Seed and Other Lost Stories<\/a><\/strong><\/em>, a collection of little-known tales by Ted Geisel that have for the first time been pulled into one collection by Random House. Here’s part of what Dr. Cohen wrote: <\/p>\n From 1948 through 1959, Ted Geisel published a series of short works that appeared in magazines, most of which were tossed out when the next month’s issue arrived. Over time, these stories were largely forgotten. But after tracing references to them, I traveled to libraries to research their collections of these old magazines; investigated, photocopied, and chronicled the stories; and eventually tracked down and purchased copies of the original magazines through the Internet. The discovery was thrilling—-I was reading Dr. Seuss stories that few people even knew existed!<\/p><\/blockquote>\n Well, not anymore. <\/p>\n When these stories were first printed, they were done so in black and white. But for this new collection, they are re-printed in color, made to look like the stories printed when Geisel was alive. As you can see at this interview<\/a><\/strong>, Cohen has stated, “I’m an anti-colorizing-movies guy, but I wanted this. Cathy Goldsmith [a Random House art director] had worked with him — she knew his color palette.” <\/p>\n Here are a couple more illustrations from the collection. Enjoy. <\/p>\n THE BIPPOLO SEED AND OTHER LOST STORIES. Published 2011 by Random House, New York, NY. Images reproduced by permission of the publisher.<\/em><\/p>\n Note for any new readers: 7-Imp’s 7 Kicks is a weekly meeting ground for taking some time to reflect on Seven(ish) Exceptionally Fabulous, Beautiful, Interesting, Hilarious, or Otherwise Positive Noteworthy Things from the past week, whether book-related or not, that happened to you. <\/p>\n 1)<\/strong><\/font> Speaking of Dr. Seuss, another Seuss scholar is the talented Philip Nel<\/a><\/strong>. (See here<\/a><\/strong> and here<\/a><\/strong>.) This week I had the distinct pleasure of meeting Phil and Karin Westman<\/a><\/strong>, who were in town lecturing at Vanderbilt University. Though, unfortunately, I missed the lecture, I had dinner with them and really enjoyed it. Good people. Good conversation. <\/p>\n 2)<\/strong><\/font> Ella Fitzgerald and Tom Jones in 1970. How<\/em> in the name of all things groovy could they manage to stay seated during this swingin’ number? <\/p>\n![](\"http:\/\/blaine.org\/jules\/465px-A_Fish_Out_Of_Water_(book)_cover_art1.jpg\")
Yup, a must-have for Seuss fans. There are seven stories here. As Cohen notes, we are presented examples of his “‘message’ stories”; stories showing off his mastery of rhyme and rhythm; stories with some new-to-us beasts to add to the Seuss menagerie of marvelous creatures; and adventure stories. We even see in the story “Gustav, the Goldfish” that clearly Helen Palmer’s<\/a><\/strong> book, A Fish Out of Water<\/a><\/strong><\/em>, was based on this lost tale — though Helen’s version doesn’t rhyme, as Seuss’s does, and her tale was illustrated by P. D. Eastman<\/a><\/strong>. Palmer was Geisel’s first wife. “Gustav, the Goldfish” was originally published in Redbook<\/em> in 1950, and as Cohen writes, “it has been floundering in obscurity ever since.” <\/p>\n![](\"http:\/\/blaine.org\/jules\/Bippolo26a.jpg\")
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Of your un-even lashes, you can’t hold it straight!'”
(From “The Rabbit, the Bear, and the Zinniga-Zanniga”)<\/em><\/center><\/p>\n![](\"http:\/\/blaine.org\/jules\/Bippolo35a.jpg\")
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It ought to hold you!'”
(From “Gustav, the Goldfish”)<\/em><\/center><\/p>\n![](\"http:\/\/blaine.org\/jules\/bippolo1.JPG\")
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