What would I do without the cat?
Where would I be without the hat?
I do not know, I can not say
I wouldn't want to see that day

For in this book, so short and sweet
is such, for all, a great big treat
The cat of mischief, cat of wise
Cat with gleaming knowing eyes

And of the hat!
What's up with that?
Where did those stripes come from?
Yes I know

Poor grammar, oh,
I'm really not that dum!

I would the world would know the cat
I hope the world will wear the hat
Can such a book be left alone?
Can such a tale be overblown?

I thinkest not, I thought antiquely
For this is writing most uniquely
And such will never come again
To grace the page with such a pen

To give us such unbridled joy
To please and, yes, and to annoy
But in the end to satisfy
With merriment and laughing sigh

For on this day we give our thanks
For treasure that is not in banks
But on the printed page before us
Thank you, oh dear Dr. Seuss!

------------------------

I wrote this in honour of Theodor Geisel, also known as Dr. Seuss, on the anniversary of his birthday. Using a vocabulary of a mere 223 words, 'The Cat in the Hat' has become a standard children's classic throughout the English-speaking world. I remember as a child delighting at the discovery of rhyming words and what fun they could be, and when coupled with the imaginative drawings and simple yet engaging plot lines, Dr. Seuss became my favourite almost instantly.

The plot of 'The Cat in the Hat' is simple yet meaningful. A cat, a perfect creature for exhibiting independence and mischief, is befriended by children who express delight, astonishment, and occasional disapproval of their be-hatted feline. Children learn behaviour in a humourous and touching way by relating to the children.

However, all of Seussian literature was almost not to be. Geisel had literally dozens of rejections for his early works, from publishers who doubted the appeal or the marketability. Fortunately for us, Geisel continued to pursue both writing and publication, which he continued up to the time of his death in 1991. He still had a book on the bestseller list at that time.

Long Live Dr. Seuss!


Cat and Chaos   September 25, 2004
 18 out of 23 found this review helpful

The Cat in the Hat has no other name--symbolic of his role as Chaos. He comes to visit two children, the predictable (as in "orderly") Boy and Girl at home. Inexplicably, the parents have left these two underaged children at home with no babysitter and no good sense to refuse entry to a patently dangerous beast who has regrettable taste in headgear. This is significant; despite the fact Mom And Dad represent Order in the equation, they introduce Chaos into the system by abandoning their kids. From that small oversight, the rest of the chaotic events unfold with Greek-tragedy-like inevitability, though with an unpredictable outcome. How like the universe this is; the stars in their courses, but the weather is utter madness.

The Cat roams rampant through the suburban home, pretty much doing what you and I and these two kids would LOVE to do but wouldn't dare--everything Mom and Dad tell you "not to." In psychological terms, the Cat is fulfilling the deepest desires of the children--to be really, really BAD, but without any consequences whatsoever. It's alluring, giddy, intoxicating, and it's SCARY, too. Disorder, like a roller-coaster ride, runs frighteningly and ultimately, downhill.

Just before the authoritarian ORDER figures Mom-and-Dad reappear on the scene, the Cat uses an unlikely device to vacuum up the mess and restore all as it was--in essence, reversing entropy. This is accomplished effortlessly and with no visible source of power. Here is a golden opportunity to discuss the Second Law of Thermodynamics* with your kids. A good exercise would be to try to calculate the energy that would have been required to run such a device. Question: would the device the Cat uses to clean the mess be able to run off a car battery, or would it require, oh, say, a fast-breeder reactor the size of Yokahama? You do the math.

This endurable children's classic is essential to teaching the young about responsibility, temptation, thermodynamics and chaos theory. You can't begin too early.
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*The Second Law of Thermodynamics states that "in all energy exchanges, if no energy enters or leaves the system, the potential energy of the state will always be less than that of the initial state." This is also known as entropy--or disorder.


Opening the Doorway for a Child's Imagination   September 10, 2004
 3 out of 3 found this review helpful

Researchers constantly find that reading to children is valuable in a variety of ways, not least of which are instilling a love of reading and improved reading skills. With better parent-child bonding from reading, your child will also be more emotionally secure and able to relate better to others. Intellectual performance will expand as well. Spending time together watching television fails as a substitute.

To help other parents apply this advice, as a parent of four I consulted an expert, our youngest child, and asked her to share with me her favorite books that were read to her as a young child. The Cat in the Hat was one of her picks.

I have always thought of this book as a metaphor for the sort of "make believe" thinking that children like to do and are good at. The setting is a cold rainy day, and the children's mother isn't home. I have always transformed that into they are playing in their room while their mother is busy elsewhere in the house. Suddenly, a mysterious cat arrives who can do remarkable jugging (until he drops everything) and brings in a fun box (with two little creatures who fly kites). A parental voice, however, is always present in the form of the children's fish who constantly warns them to get rid of the cat in the hat.

Suddenly, the mother is spotted about to reenter the house. The children are panic-stricken. The house is a mess! What to do? They are obviously about to be really in for it. I can feel the adrenaline rushing even now as I remember similar situations with friends as a child.

But then, the cat in the hat returns with a miraculous device which cleans everything up! And then he is gone, just as their mother steps in. She asks, "Did you have any fun? Tell me. What did you do?" The two children don't know what to say. They ask you what you would do if your mother asked you.

The ending is wonderful because it sets up a wonderful opportunity to talk about the story. Would the child let in the cat in the hat? Would the child ask the cat in the hat to leave and when? Was the fish correct in warning the children? What are the other reasons not to let strangers in? Why should you tell your mother if things go awry, or not? In the course of the discussion, fears that the story probably raises can be dealt with in a constructive way that reduces fear in the future and improves communication in the family. Most children have these kinds of fears, but aren't usually willing to bring them up. So the book gives you the excuse to work on improving their security.

This is one of the more difficult Dr. Seuss books for beginning readers, so you'll be reading this one to your child for a while. The appeal to the child is very much in the idea of playing unrestrained in the house. Almost no child is allowed to do that, and the consequences are pretty funny for the child if they are happening to someone else.

If you want to see the earliest versions of the cat in the hat character, be sure to see Dr. Seuss Goes to War which documents his work as a political cartoonist in World War II.

Then, encourage your child to use the book to come up with her or his own ideas about fun things to do as make-believe on a rainy day. Can they imagine a more fun make-believe visitor than the cat in the hat? What would the visitor do? If you ask these questions, you will extend your child's imagination now and for a lifetime.

Enjoy for the rest of your life!