Dr. Seuss’ The Cat In A Hat – A Closer Look
The Cat In A Hat – for those of you who don’t know it, this kids’ book written by Dr. Seuss is perhaps the most famous of all his creations. Showcasing a tall, fun loving, and mischievous cat that wears a tall and striped (red and white) hat along with a red bow, your kid is sure to have lots of fun reading this book. With the advent of The Cat In The Hat, a series of Beginner Books followed – allowing Seuss to promote his name while answering the demand for elementary literacy in the United States. As for The Cat, it became a trademark of almost all of Seuss’ books appearing in 6 of his rhyming kids’ books.
Dr. Seuss’ The Cat In A Hat – History And Plot
In the first book – The Cat In The Hat published back in 1957, the Cat brings chaos – BUT in a cheerful, unusual, and exuberant form, to the two young kids who are moping in their house when their mom left unattended. Along with that, the Cat brought out 2 creatures with apt names of Thing One and Thing Two. Together with these 2 colorful and lively creatures, the Cat performed all kinds of wacky tricks just to entertain the kids – balancing a cup, milk, cake, books, the goldfish that the kids’ own, stands on his umbrella, and those are just to name a few. The results were pretty mixed. Some of the tricks amused the kids while others just caused total mess. While the kids are having truckloads of fun with the Cat, the goldfish – the family pet which is sapient and very articulate, strongly opposed the leading character’s antics.
The kids – Sally along with her elder brother, who narrates the story, eventually proved to be exemplary children by capturing Thing One and Thing Two (who turned the whole house into a mess) and bringing the Cat under their control. Wanting to make up for the great mess he caused, the Cat cleaned up the whole house before making his way out and disappearing like a bubble just moments before their mom got home.
Looking through a literary point of view, Dr. Seuss’ Cat In The Hat is a showcase of talent and passion for writing. There are only a handful of books that could maintain a strict triple meter, use a very tiny vocabulary that beginning readers could easily understand, and narrate a very interesting story all at the same time. The book became so popular that a lot of literary critics write recreational essays about the book – dabbling with issues like why was the mother absent, the symbolic and psychological identity and characterization of the Cat, Thing One and Thing Two, the Fish, and those are just to name a few.
Up to date, there are more than 11 million copies of The Cat In The Hat printed and sold. Along with that, it has been translated into well over 12 different languages – Latin with the title Cattus Petasatus, Yiddish that has the title di Kats der Payats, and more.
Dr. Seuss’ The Cat In A Hat – Things To Keep In Mind
What you need to understand is that beginning readers will, almost always, appreciate and take the fun crazed and lively Cat’s side rather than the articulate and guilt tripping goldfish’s side who symbolizes the voice of reason. With its colorful pictures, the Cat’s exuberant spirit, the rapid fire and rhyming words, your kid will surely love to read this book over and over again.
As a family reading the book together, you can talk about how Dr. Seuss uses unique language and even introduce the concept of rhyming. You can ask your kids – how many sets of rhyming words they can find in the text or page? What rhyming pairs and patterns can they notice? And a whole lot more. Along with that, adults and parents could also use the real life consequences brought about by the Cat’s nutty and crazy antics and behavior. Why not ask your kids – do you think Sally and her elder brother will be honest enough to tell their mom what actually happened?
These are just some of the possibilities. That’s how rich, entertaining, and educating this book is! Why not have a look at other masterful creations of Dr. Seuss and grab them in a high quality hard cover version at a price that won’t bore a hole in your pocket by joining the Dr. Seuss book club?