KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Dr. Seuss's “How the Grinch Stole Christmas” remains one of the most beloved stories of the holiday season.
VOICE FOR EVERYONE | Share your voice with KSHB 41’s Taylor Hemness
The original was written all the way back in 1957. Now, after more than 60 years, the time has finally come for an official sequel.
Dr. Seuss's “How the Grinch Lost Christmas” was just released in November, and the author, Alistair Heim, lives right here in Kansas City.
In a story you'll only see here on KSHB 41, I sat down with him to learn about the pressure-packed task of writing for Dr. Seuss.
I asked him right away what the original book means to him.
"Boy, I have never been asked that question before, that is a really wonderful question," Heim said. “It's Christmas. I've got ornaments, I've got Grinch decor, even before I had anything to do with Dr. Seuss."
Heim even has custom Grinch sneakers, which he wore for the first time to our interview.
But this character isn't just scary to the Whos. He's kind of scary to the man writing the next chapter of his globally-known story.
"That book also represents a huge responsibility for me when I was writing this book," Heim told me.
Heim has actually written a few titles as The Cat in the Hat, but in 2021 he got the chance to go to Whoville.
"We want you to write as much as you can in a week, submit that, and that's gonna be your audition this time," Heim says he was told.
He got the job, and got to work.
"There's an annual Christmas tree contest in Whoville, and the Grinch wants to prove to the Whos that he's changed,” Heim said. “So he enters the Christmas tree contest and wants to create the biggest most fabulous tree that has ever existed."
"This was the hardest secret I've ever had to keep in my life," Heim told me.
While quiet to most of his friends and family, he was mastering the almost musical pace of Dr. Seuss's words. Most of us know that by heart.
I asked him if the Dr. Seuss style was so ingrained in his head that he don't have to think about it as much.”
"I call it the power of IGGITY-BIGGITY,” Heim told me with a smile. “It's a strange thing that I came up with."
"Iggity-biggity, iggity-biggity, iggity-biggity goo,” Heim recited twice to me. “I kinda get that rhythm in my brain, and after I write the first couple of stanzas, it's kinda locked in, if that makes sense."
Think of the lines of the book, and it really does.
More important than the sound though, is the story. The original taught us that Christmas doesn't come from a store.
The sequel...
“Is about belonging," Heim told me. “He had such an epiphany moment, the following year he really wants to prove, and he feels like he has to prove to the Whos that he belongs."
The pages of this book are where Alistair Heim belongs, even if his isn't the name you, your kids and your grandkids will likely remember.
But I got the sense that his name isn’t what’s most important to him.
"That means I've done my job,” Heim told me. “That's all that means is I've done my job. Because this is his world, and I get to play in the sandbox. I'll never be as good as (Dr. Seuss) is. But if I can honor his work in some way, that's my goal, the best that I can."
Dr. Seuss's "How the Grinch Lost Christmas" is available now in book stores and online. Heim also told me that he has more books in the works for Dr. Seuss, and is already thinking about what the next chapter of the Grinch's story might be.
—
