The Grinch Is Back with a New Christmas Story

One year has passed since the Grinch stole Christmas from the town of Whoville. Now, the green creature is back in a follow-up book called How the Grinch Lost Christmas!

And he wants to prove to the Whos of Whoville that he has changed.

The Grinch is a character from the 1957 children's book How the Grinch Stole Christmas! by Dr. Seuss. In that story, the Grinch tries to ruin Whoville's Christmas by stealing their gifts, ornaments and food. But later he learns that the holiday is about spending time with family and friends.

© 2023 Dr. Seuss Enterprises, L.P., All Rights Reserved, via AP)">
An image provided by Dr. Seuss Enterprises shows a page from the new book "How the Grinch Lost Christmas!" (Photo/TM & © 2023 Dr. Seuss Enterprises, L.P., All Rights Reserved, via AP)

Dr. Seuss's book sold millions of copies and was translated into several languages. The story has been turned into a television program, two movies and even a Broadway musical.

Random House, the book's publisher, said in a statement, "One of the most asked questions we receive from Seuss fans of all ages is 'What do you think happened to the Grinch after he stole Christmas?'"

So, the decision was made to write a new book to follow up on the story.

The new book, How the Grinch Lost Christmas!, starts a year later in Whoville. The Grinch wants to prove that his heart has grown to love the holiday.

The Grinch had been patiently waiting all year,
To celebrate Christmas and bring the Whos cheer,
And to show every Who he was DIFFERENT now.
"I've changed!" thought the Grinch,
"And I'll prove it! But HOW?"

So, the Grinch tries to win a Whoville's Christmas award by making the largest and the best Christmas tree the Whos have ever seen.

But, things do not go as planned. Young Cindy-Lou Who wins the contest. The Grinch is shocked and his heart turns ice cold. The green creature threatens to leave Whoville for real this time. Cindy-Lou reaches out and tells the Grinch that her tree has ornaments from everyone in Whoville except one. In the end, the Grinch returns with an ornament for Cindy-Lou and regains his spirit of giving.

Dr. Seuss, whose real name was Theodor Seuss Geisel, died in 1991. So, Alastair Heim, who has worked on several Dr. Seuss' books, wrote the new story. And Aristides Ruiz provided the illustrations.

Heim told The Associated Press in an email last February, "All throughout writing the story, I couldn't fully believe that I was actually getting to play in the amazing creative sandbox Dr. Seuss created all those decades ago."

Ruiz said he jumped at the chance to draw for the book. But he said the work on the new book was "difficult" because it is such a big part of the Christmas tradition in the United States.

I'm Caty Weaver.

Hai Do wrote this story for Learning English with additional reporting from The Associated Press.

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Words in This Story

character - n. a person who appears in a story, book, play, movie or show

ornament - n. a small object that are hung on Christmas Tree

translate - v. to change words from one language to another language