“To sing the 50 United States you have to use your brain. Massachusetts. Minnesota. Missouri and Montana, M-i-s-s-Mississippi. Maryland! Michigan and Maine!”
The playful lines may have a familiar ring, but few people have ever heard them before.
They’re the opening sentences of “Sing the 50 United States!,” a rhyming romp by Dr. Seuss that remained hidden for more than three decades before being discovered last year. The whimsical book, released earlier this month, is the first full manuscript by Dr. Seuss — who died in September 1991 and whose real name was Theodor Seuss Geisel — to be uncovered since the posthumous release of his “What Pet Should I Get?” in 2015.
Cat Reynolds, the executive editor for Dr. Seuss Publishing and Beginner Books, uncovered the book in the spring of 2025, along with her two colleagues — the now-retired Dr. Seuss Publishing executive editor Alice Jonaitis and Rodale Kids editorial director Sara Sargent — while they were combing through the author’s archives at UC San Diego’s Geisel Library.
Reynolds describes the archives as “massive” and made up of approximately 20,000 pieces, including drawings, handwritten notes and partially finished drafts of his books.
“We were there looking for illustrations we could use for the 70th anniversary of ‘The Cat in the Hat’ and ‘The Grinch,’ which are in 2027,” she told The Post. “The moment we realized this was a complete manuscript of something that was completely unknown, we were amazed … It was completely ready for publication — not even a punctuation mark needed to be changed.”
Dr. Seuss also left behind rough sketches and a book map outlining how the book might unfold, which the Random House team used as a guide for the illustrations. Reynolds, Jonaitis and Sargent also landed on several unfinished versions of the manuscript, including one covered with Geisel’s handwritten notes on typed pages.
Rather than revealing anything new about the author, “Sing the 50 United States!” — which finds the Cat in the Hat and his two Little Cat companions rhyming their way through all 50 states — reinforces Dr. Seuss’s gift for making learning fun.
“This book is an example of his signature rhyme, joyful language, and imagination,” Reynolds said.
She noted that the manuscript is distinctive from other Dr. Seuss stories because the words emphasize the musicality of his rhymes with a unique rhythm. “Dr. Seuss loved to write songs, and even released a songbook, ‘The Cat in the Hat’s Songbook,’” she says.
Random House released one million copies of “Sing the 50 United States!,” double its initially planned print run, because there was such strong interest in it.
“This book is a rare treasure, and we want to get it out to as many people as we can,” said Reynolds.
