What Pet Should I Get?

Theodor Seuss Geisel, also known as Dr. Seuss, died in 1991, leaving behind boxes and boxes of stuff. Soon after his death, his widow, Audrey, packed most of it and shipped it away for proper archiving. Around 2013, Seuss’ longtime assistant Claudia Prescott called Cathy Goldsmith, a publisher at Random House. She had found something very special – a treasure trove of drawn cartoons on onion paper with typed text, taped precisely into place on each page. The fragile originals were to be the book “What Pet Should I Get” by  Dr. Seuss. The writing and drawings were complete, but still required some art decisions, backgrounds and shading.

“I tried to do the job he would do if he were doing it today,” said Goldsmith. “I also wanted it to be a piece that, when somebody looked at, they would know it is a Dr. Seuss book.” Goldsmith started working on Dr. Seuss books in 1978. She remembers the first time she met the author, a tall, imposing figure with a wicked sense of humor. She had no idea what to call him. “No one else called him Dr. Seuss,” said Goldsmith. He finally noticed that she was awkwardly avoiding using his hame and told her to call him Ted.

Goldsmith would end up working with Ted for the next 11 years. Toward the end of his life, when he was too ill to finish coloring in the final pages of “Oh, the Places You’ll Go!,” he called Ms. Goldsmith. She flew out and stayed at his home for several days, coloring under his direction.

“What Pet Shall We Get” was written some time between 1958 and 1962, a time when pets were spoken about a bit differently than we do today. Goldsmith tweaked the script to encourage people to adopt, rather than buy, pets.

Dr. Seuss was an animal lover. His first “pet” was a brown stuffed toy dog given to him by his mother. He named the dog Theophrastus. He would keep Theophrastus for the rest of his life. The stuffed dog was often seen perched near his drawing board. Just before he died, at the age of 87, Dr. Seuss gave Theophrastus to his stepdaughter Lea Grey. “You will take care of the dog, won’t you?” he asked her.

Ted and Theophrastus
Theodor Seuss Geisel and his first “pet” a stuffed dog.

Ted (Dr. Seuss) got his first real live dog around 1914 when he was 10 years-old. Rex was a Boston Bulldog who had a habit of walking on three of his four feet. Perhaps this habit inspired Dr. Seuss to create odd-legged animals in his books.

Ted and Rex
Rex, a Boston Bulldog, was Ted’s first real live dog.

Ted and his wife Helen loved big dogs. In this photograph, Cluny sits with Ted by the pool at their home in La Jolla, California in 1957. This was around the time that Random House published Dr. Seuss’s 13th book, “The Cat in the Hat.”

Cluny and Ted
Cluny checks out some of Dr. Seuss’s drawings.
Ted, Helen and Cluny
At the beach, Helen and Cluny watch as Dr. Seuss draws a creation in the sand.

After Helen died, Ted remarried. His second wife, Audrey, loved small dogs. This is Ted and Samantha, a Yorkshire Terrier, the first of several Yorkies he and Audrey lived with over the years. Photobombing Ted and Sam is one of his creations – a Semi-Normal-Green-Lidded Fawn.

Ted and Samantha
Sam would be one of several Yorkies who lived with Ted and his second wife Audrey.

Dr. Seuss wrote over 60 books, beginning in 1931. “Green Eggs and Ham” was his biggest seller with 17.5 million copies sold, to date. “The Cat in the Hat” is next with 15.5 million copies sold to date. When “What Pet Should I Get” was released on July 28, 2015, 200,000 copies were sold in the first week, making it the fastest-selling picture book in Random House Children’s Books history.

Good News for Moms: It’s Puppy Week for Kids on PBS.

Starting Monday, June 24 on PBS KIDS, the all-new Martha Speaks will be filled with puppies. The popular show returns for a fifth season of new episodes, new adventures and a puppy theme all week.

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Martha, of course is America’s favorite talking dog. Martha Speaks is a production of WGBH Boston and Oasis Animation Inc. The show works to help increase children’s oral vocabulary, teaching children (between the ages of four and seven) words like famous, admire, understudy and more.

“We think puppies are the perfect vehicle to teach kids new vocabulary. Words like destroy, mess, ruin, exhausted, and anticipation,” said senior executive producer Carol Greenwald.

The New Barker has listed the Florida schedule for the PBS show below. And in celebration of the fifth season, kids can visit www.PBSKIDS.org/martha to interact with Martha Speaks. Kids will be able to decorate photos of their puppies using props and descriptive words in the popular Dog Tags game. Kids will also be able to print out Puppy Printables. Parents will find recommended books about dogs for their children to read. There are also tips for kids on puppy safety and puppy adoption.

PBS KIDS is the number one educational media brand for kids, offering all children the opportunity to explore new ideas and new worlds. Watch Martha Speaks in Florida at the following stations throughout the week:

Tampa (WEDU)
New episodes Mon 6/24 – Thu 6/27 at 7:30am and 4:00pm
 
Miami (WPBT)
New episodes Mon 6/24 – Thu 6/27 at 3:30pm
 
Miami (WLRN)
New episodes Mon 6/24 – Thu 6/27 at 3:00pm
 
Orlando (WUCF)
New episodes Mon 6/24 – Thu 6/27 at 7:30am
 
West Palm Beach (WXEL)
New episodes Mon 6/24 – Thu 6/27 at 7:30am
 
Jacksonville (WJCT)
New episodes Mon 6/24 – Thu 6/27 at 7:30am and 5:00pm
 
Pensacola (WSRE)
New episodes Mon 6/24 – Thu 6/27 at 6:30am and 4:30pm
 
Fort Myers (WGCU)
New episodes Mon 6/24 – Thu 6/27 at 7:30am and 3:30pm
 
Tallahassee (WFSU)
New episodes Mon 6/24 – Thu 6/27 at 7:30am and 6:00pm
 
Panama City (WFSG)
New episodes Mon 6/24 – Thu 6/27 at 6:30am and 5:00pm
 
Gainesville (WUFT)
New episodes Mon 6/24 – Thu 6/27 at 7:30am