It’s been more than 65 years since Dr. Seuss released his “How the Grinch Stole Christmas” but the beloved children’s book is now getting a sequel.
The Associated Press reported that the new story, which will be released this holiday season, will pick up a year after the Grinch’s heart grew three sizes.
Dr. Seuss Enterprises and Random House Children’s Books said the story will, like the original, have a valuable lesson about the meaning of the holiday. It is set to answer the question that many have asked, according to Alice Jonaitis, executive editor at Random House Children’s Book, “What do you think happened to the Grinch after he stole Christmas?”
The book will be called “Dr. Seuss’s How the Grinch Lost Christmas!,” according to Penguin Random House.
The publisher’s website shared a passage that reads:
The Grinch had been patiently waiting all year,
To celebrate Christmas and bring the Whos cheer,
And to show every Who he was DIFFERENT now.
“I’ve changed!” thought the Grinch,
“And I’ll prove it! But HOW?”
But something happens to his plans and it sends the Grinch back to being, what else, Grinchy, turning his heart “ice cold” and threatening to leave Who-ville, but one special Who helps him see what Christmas is all about, Penguin Random House said.
The book is not based on a manuscript written by Theodor Geisel, who died in 1991 at the age of 87, but will be done by an author and artist who have worked with the universe Dr. Seuss created — writer Alastair Heim and illustrator Aristides Ruiz, the AP reported.
Heim has penned several Seuss-themed books such as “If I Ran Your School” and “I Am the Cat in the Hat.” Ruiz has illustrated the Cat in the Hat’s Learning Library for more than 20 years.
“Dr. Seuss’s How the Grinch Lost Christmas!” will be released on Sept. 5 and can be pre-ordered on the publisher’s website and stores such as Amazon, Target, Barnes & Noble and Walmart.
Dr. Seuss wrote several books that have helped generations of children grow including “Green Eggs and Ham” and “The Cat in the Hat.” But his writings were not without controversy. Six books have been pulled from sales because of racist imagery including “And to Think I Saw It on Mulberry Street” and “If I Ran the Zoo,” the AP reported.