My boys are 11 now, twins well on their way to teendom, and the cultural artifacts in their bedroom for the most part reflect that: the ominous “Lord of the Rings” movie poster on the door, the snarky Simpsons comics taped to the wall.

But when I recently checked a quiet corner for “The Cat in the Hat,” it was still there, untouched by time and fashion. I asked the nearest tween, my other son, Zephy, if kids his age like Dr. Seuss, and he did a little double-take before fixing me with a smile that suggested I was either A) messing with him or B) tragically clueless. “Everybody likes Dr. Seuss,” he said.

More than two decades after his death, Theodor Seuss Geisel, aka Dr. Seuss, is once again the author of a hot new book, with preorders of “What Pet Should I Get?” propelling it to No. 1 in Amazon’s “stories in verse” best-seller category well before its July 28 publication date.

Random House has announced a first printing of a million books, up from initial plan of 500,000.

Regardless of whether “Pet,” which was probably written in about 1960, lives up to the hype, it’s unlikely to affect the author’s standing as a giant of children’s literature.

Presidents laud Dr. Seuss, Hollywood retells his stories, kids dress as his characters for Halloween.

“I think he’s here for the duration,” says Judy Freeman, a former school librarian and co-author of “The Handbook for Storytellers.”

“There’s nothing dated about his books. ‘And to Think That I Saw It on Mulberry Street,’ which is his first book; it’s still delightful. His ‘I Can Read’ books — ‘Hop on Pop’ — they’re still great. We’ve got a lot of big-time guys now, like Jon Klassen is the flavor of the week, and he’s adorable and funny, but I really think there’s something about Seuss that no one has duplicated, and that’s the combination of fantasy with poetry and his goofy characters: characters that are believable even though they’re wild and crazy. The Grinch — the Grinch is here forever.”

In 1937, when Geisel presented his first children’s book to New York publishers, he was swimming against the tide. Books that taught reading skills were staid and instructive.

Geisel, a Dartmouth-educated illustrator, had already done a cover for Life magazine. He brought a sweetly subversive style to “And to Think That I Saw it on Mulberry Street,” changing literature forever.