Newly unearthed Richard Scarry book: A sneak peek

There’s a new addition to the busy world of Richard Scarry.

Next August, Random House will publish Best Lowly Worm Book Ever, a charming picture book starring one of Scarry’s most recognizable and beloved characters. Its release will come 20 years after the prolific Scarry — who wrote and illustrated more than 300 picture books — died of a heart attack in 1994. (HarperCollins will release the book Sept. 26 in the U.K.)

Best Lowly Worm Book Ever was discovered by Scarry’s son Richard Jr. — also known as Huck — in Scarry’s Gstaad studio. “Under his drawing table were several grey cardboard portfolios containing rough sketches of book ideas done on tracing paper,” Huck explained to EW via email. “Although most of the sketches were simply rough ideas, one set appeared quite advanced, with typewriter-written blocks of text on each page. It was a book about Lowly, and it looked like something which might be brought to completion fairly easily.”

Huck, a writer and illustrator in his own right, set to work completing the nearly finished book; the rest, as they say, is history.

Though Scarry’s son hasn’t yet discovered any more unpublished books, he also hasn’t ruled out the possibility. “Quite frankly, it’s hard to say if there are more works sketched by my father that might find their way to publication,” he writes. “The University of Connecticut holds most of my father’s original artwork, including sketches, and I am currently looking at whether there might be something complete which might be brought to a finished book. We’ll see!”

Watch out for The Best Lowly Worm Book, which hits shelves in the U.S. Aug. 26, 2014, and find a few more images from the book below.