What Pet Should I Get?

by Dr. Seuss

Random House, 2015. Picture Book.

No, that publication date is not a typo – What Pet Should I Get? is a brand-new book by Dr. Seuss! Discovered among his hundreds of notes and sketches, this story is carefully restored to match the quality found in the rest of Dr. Seuss's beloved work.

The story features a boy and a girl whose father tells them that they may have a pet. The pair visit a pet store and quickly become overwhelmed by the possibilities of pet ownership. In typical Seuss fashion, those possibilities spiral from simple puppies and kittens to wild and wacky fantasy creatures. The book exclaims, “MAKE UP YOUR MIND,” a message that can surely be useful to both parent and child readers. Ultimately, the boy and girl leave with a pet, but just which kind of animal they chose is left up to the reader.

What Pet Should I Get? fits the mold of classic Dr. Seuss picture books, though it is slight enough that a beginning reader may be able to read it aloud. As a story that was left unfinished, this book doesn’t quite reach the heights of Seuss’s greatest – but what could? Any new work from one of literature’s foremost geniuses is a true gift. Make up your own mind and borrow this book.

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