I've documented 23 issues of Redbook Magazine from the 1950's which contain Dr. Seuss stories. Each of these were original stories (except Grinch?), not reprints like the Seuss stories in Children's Digest, and therefore likely have collectible value. At this time, these issues are relatively inexpensive to acquire.
No. Pgs Date Title
01 4 1950 - Jun Gustav the Goldfish
02 3 1950 - Jul If I Ran The Zoo
03 3 1950 - Aug Tad and Todd
04 2 1950 - Sep Marco Comes Late
05 3 1950 - Oct How Officer Pat Saved the Whole Town
06 3 1950 - Nov Steak for Supper
07 2 1950 - Dec The Big Brag
08 2 1951 - Jan Horton and the Kwuggerbug
09 2 1951 - Feb The Rabbit, the Bear and the Zinniga-Zanniga
10 2 1951 - Apr Yertle
11 2 1951 - Jun Bippolo Seed
12 2 1951 - Jul Gertrude McFuzz
13 2 1951 - Sep The Strange Shirt Spot
14 2 1951 - Nov The Great Henry McBride
15 1 1953 - Jul Sneetches
16 1 1953 - Aug The Flustards
17 1 1954 - Jan The Munkits
18 1 1954 - Mar Zaks
19 1 1954 - Jul The Ruckus
12 1 1955 - May Hoobub and the Grinch
21 1 1956 - Feb Did I Ever Tell You?
22 1 1956 - Dec The Kindly Snather
23 12 1957 - Dec How the Grinch Stole Christmas
regards,
Stan Zielinski
1stedition.net Notes:
1. The July 1950 issue with If I Ran The Zoo pre-dates the publication of the book by several months. Notably, the book has text which differs from the original Redbook version.
2. The April 1951 issue with Yertle pre-dates the publication of the book by seven years. Yertle The Turtle (Random, 1958) also includes the Gertrude McFuzz story, which was published in the July 1951 Redbook, and The Big Brag, which was originally published in the December 1950 Redbook.
3. The December 1957 issue contains the complete story of How The Grinch Stole Christmas. This is odd, since the book was published that same season. I've researched whether Seuss's original intention was to publish Grinch in Redbook first (perhaps the quality of the story convinced Bennett Cerf to publish the book version?), and found the following:
From Ruth MacDonald's "Dr. Seuss", "At the same time he was working on The Cat In The Hat, Seuss was expected to produce an annual volume for Random House. One year, he found himself with a deadline but no book for the publisher's Christmas list. The Grinch and his story occurred fortuitously, and the story was written quickly, in a few weeks"
This is contrary to the account in the Morgan's biography "Dr. Seuss & Mr. Geisel", "In mid-May, Helen wrote Louise Bonino that the Grinch was in the mail, and that she expected it to be the second Dr.Seuss blockbuster of 1957.[...] The Grinch appeared in the fall of 1957 and was acclaimed from the start."
Linda and Stan Zielinski, authors of the Children's Picturebook Price Guide, are "serious collectors having fun with fun books."
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