SAN DIEGO (CBS 8) - It's a new book with a new look that uses weird words like "zook". A new read called "The Bippolo Seed and Other Lost Stories" from children's author Dr. Seuss hit stores Tuesday. So far, San Diegans say this latest fictional treat is pretty neat.
From a gluttonous duck named McCluck to Gustav the growing goldfish, the latest Dr. Seuss read is planting a new seed of imagination in bookworms young and old.
"Being in La Jolla where Dr. Seuss lived, it just has a special feel, that an author from our hometown has come to light again after all these years," Warwick's children's book buyer Jan Iverson said.
Seven lost stories by the children's author, whose real name is Ted Geisel, have been bundled together and released in "The Bippolo Seed and Other Lost Stories". The tales and illustrations by the former La Jolla resident were first published in Redbook magazine in the 1950s, long before "How the Grinch Stole Christmas," "The Cat in the Hat," and "Green Eggs and Ham" became household names.
"It shows that he was kind of trying out his sense of rhythm and rhyme and his silliness put in also, and I think it showed he was on the way to writing some of his other complete books," Iverson said.
Iverson says the new books have been flying off the shelves.
"We sold out of our initial order which was a display and some other loose copies, and I have doubled that order and have more books coming in today," Iverson said.
With rave reviews already popping up on sites like Amazon.com, Iverson hopes this long-lost treasure will deliver even more delicious rhymes and creative characters for the next generation to enjoy.
"They now have a new one to add to it, and enjoy with their current children and pass it on," she said.
Dr. Seuss's books have been translated into 15 languages and have sold more than 200 million copies.