Dr. Seuss's Cat in the Hat

The Cat in the Hat is a children’s book written by Theodor Geisel, better known as Dr. Seuss. The main character is a tall, mischievous cat with unique human traits. He is best recognized by his tall, red and white striped hat, bow tie and umbrella. Dr. Seuss wrote the book to support elementary literacy.

The main character has been the subject of six of Dr. Seuss’s books: The Cat in the Hat, The Cat in the Hat Comes Back, The Cat in the Hat Song Book, The Cat’s Quizzer, I Can Read with My Eyes Shut and Daisy-Head Mayzie.

The Cat in the Hat was written in response to an article written by John Hersey in Life Magazine in 1954. In the article, Hersey criticized the effectiveness of school primers in teaching children how to read. By limiting the numbers of words used in the book and adding pictures, Dr. Seuss felt children would find the book more entertaining and retain the vocabulary better. The book contains mostly monosyllabic words and is rhythmic. The book was published in 1957.

The main plot of the book is about a cat who entertains two children on a rainy day while their mother is not home. The cat performs wacky tricks to amuse the children and messes up the house. Just before the mother comes back, he cleans up the house and leaves.

The Cat in the Hat has been popular with children since it publication. It has been made into a TV show and movie. There is a musical, Seussical the Musical, that has The Cat in the Hat character as the narrator. Software MacKiev created an ebook for the Mac. Universal’s theme park in Orlando, Florida has an area devoted to Dr. Seuss, Seuss Landing, where there is a Cat in the Hat ride.

Dr. Seuss died in 1991 but his books still bring entertainment to children and aid children in learning how to read. He published over 60 books but The Cat in the Hat is one of his best known.

Dr. Seuss's Cat in the Hat