The first Dr. Seuss book in 25 years was released Tuesday, and the publication was celebrated with an event at UC San Diego's Geisel Library.
"What Pet Should I Get?" was published by Random House. By midday, it had zoomed to No. 1 in the Amazon best-seller rankings.
The story is based on materials found two years ago in a box at the La Jolla home of Audrey Geisel, the widow of Theodor "Dr. Seuss" Geisel, who wrote the children's classics "The Cat in the Hat" and "Green Eggs and Ham."
The items had been collected from his office following his 1991 death.
"Probably two or three generations of children have grown up on the classic Dr. Seuss books, now there will be a new one," UCSD librarian Brian Schottlaender told NBC7/39. "To have a new classic that you can read to your kids or your grandkids for the very first time, that no one's ever heard before, is just a pretty awesome thing."
The UCSD bookstore sold copies of "What Pet Should I Get?" at the celebration, which also included an exhibition of the author's drawings and sketches, along with servings of lemonade and animal crackers.
More than 15,000 items are held in the Dr. Seuss collection at the library, including original drawings, sketches, manuscript drafts, books, notebooks, photographs and memorabilia that document the full range of the children's author's creative achievements, dating back to his high school activities in 1919.
"I can tell already that there are illustrations in this book that will be permanently emblazoned in the memories of young readers. I have my own memories of certain Seuss illustrations and there are some great one's in here," UCSD bookseller Amanda Qassar said. "A lot of Seuss'... are surreal and this is definitely a good example."
UCSD announced last week that Audrey Geisel donated $3 million to help pay for renovations on three floors of the library. University officials hope that work will begin on the project next spring.
