Horton and the Kwuggerbug and More Lost Stories
By Patricia Tauzer,
Common Sense Media Reviewer
Common Sense Media Reviewers
Early stories have catchy rhymes, some familiar characters.
A Lot or a Little?
What you will—and won't—find in this book.
Where to Read
Community Reviews
There aren't any parent reviews yet. Be the first to review this title.
What's the Story?
HORTON AND THE KWUGGERBUG AND MORE LOST STORIES is a collection of four Dr. Seuss short stories that were published in Redbook magazine in the 1950s but never finalized in book form. It begins with an extensive introduction written by Seussian scholar and collector Charles D. Cohen that explains how these stories fit into the Seuss legacy, why they never appeared as books, and why we should read them now. The title story features the same compassionate Horton that Seuss fans met in Horton Hatches the Egg and Horton Hears a Who! This time he's on a mission to help the small but demanding Kwuggerbug harvest his beezlenut tree. In the next story, the imaginative Marco from McElligot's Pool and To Think That I Saw That on Mulberry Street tries to explain why he's late to school, and then Officer Pat tries to save the good citizens of Mulberry Street from all the dangers he imagines. The final story, and the shortest, introduces an earlier version of the Grinch (later star of How the Grinch Stole Christmas), who uses all his powers of salesmanship to pull one over on the Hoobub.
Is It Any Good?
These are stories by Seuss, so of course they're entertaining and imaginative! Rhymes, rhythms, illustrations, and lessons are just as good as Seuss fans would expect. Those who grew up reading The Cat in the Hat, Green Eggs and Ham, How the Grinch Stole Christmas, and so on will love the fact that they can reconnect to all the joy past Seuss stories brought them and, at the same time, see what a few familiar characters are up to in other, earlier adventures.
Readers new to Seuss will enjoy the fun and play of these stories and be looking for more. Cohen's informative comments make the book even more enjoyable, and complete, but might have been better placed as an afterword rather than an introduction.
Talk to Your Kids About ...
Families can talk about the way Dr. Seuss tells his stories. What kinds of rhythms do you hear? When do words rhyme? How do the illustrations add to the story? What do you think the stories would be like without the drawings?
How does Dr. Seuss use humor to give us a serious lesson? Which character do you relate to? How does that character use imagination and compassion to deal with the other characters?
How do this Horton, this Marco, this Officer Pat, and this Grinch compare with those characters in the books you've already read? How about Mulberry Street and the beezlenut tree? What about the drawings? Do they look different in the stories you know?
Book Details
- Author: Dr. Seuss
- Illustrator: Dr. Seuss
- Genre: Picture Book
- Topics: Adventures, Book Characters
- Book type: Fiction
- Publisher: Random House Books for Young Readers
- Publication date: September 9, 2014
- Publisher's recommended age(s): 4 - 8
- Number of pages: 56
- Available on: Nook, Audiobook (unabridged), Hardback, iBooks, Kindle
- Last updated: July 12, 2017
Did we miss something on diversity?
Research shows a connection between kids' healthy self-esteem and positive portrayals in media. That's why we've added a new "Diverse Representations" section to our reviews that will be rolling out on an ongoing basis. You can help us help kids by suggesting a diversity update.
Suggest an Update
Where to Read
Our Editors Recommend
Common Sense Media's unbiased ratings are created by expert reviewers and aren't influenced by the product's creators or by any of our funders, affiliates, or partners.
See how we rate