Book Review: Horton and the Kwuggerbug and More Lost Stories by Dr. Seuss

Stars: 5 out of 5

Pros: Four fun stories

Cons: None

The Bottom Line:

These four Seuss stories

Combine into a fun book

For young, young at heart

Four Great Seuss Tales

I have been skeptical of the books released in recent years after Dr. Seuss’s death.  However, I couldn’t resist looking at my library’s copy of Horton and the Kwuggerbug and More Lost Stories.  I mean, who doesn’t love Horton?  I’m glad I did because there are four fun stories here.

Up first is the title story in which a Kwuggerbug asks the kind-hearted elephant to help him reach a Beezlenut tree.  If Horton takes the bug there, the bug promises to give him half of the nuts when they arrive.  Will it be worth the journey?

The next story involves Marco from And to Think That I Saw It on Mulberry Street and McElligot’s Pool.  In this case, “Marco Comes Late” to school, but he has a great excuse.  You’ll have to read it to find out what it is.  The bigger question is, is it true?

We stay with Mulberry Street for “How Officer Pat Saved the Whole Town.”  When Officer Pat sees a fly buzzing, he knows it means trouble.  Just how big is the trouble?  And how will he stop it?

Finally, we get a two-page story about “The Hoobub and the Grinch.”  No, not that Grinch.  In this case, the Grinch is a salesman attempting to get the Hoobub to buy a piece of green string.  Will it work?

All of these stories are told in classic Seuss rhyme with classic illustrations to go with them.  And, while short, they all have the feel of the best of Suess’s stories.  Since they are all short, it makes sense they’d be collected in one book.

The introduction gives some background to these stories and where they fit in Seuss’s career.  It also explains that all of them were originally written for magazines.  And maybe knowing that was one reason I was willing to give this book a chance.  Dr. Seuss actually did finish these and put them out in the world himself, unlike the other book published after his death that I read, which felt like a work in progress.  These feel finished.  They are short, but they are fun, and there might even be a lesson or two in there as well.

Speaking of the introduction, I definitely think adult fans will enjoy it, but parents reading to their kids will be perfectly fine skipping over it.  There’s a lot of good info here, but kids won’t care, and the lack of picture will bore them.

So if you’ve been avoiding Horton and the Kwuggerbug and More Lost Stories, I suggest you pick it up today.  These four stories will entertain kids of all ages.