The Cat in the Hat (Book)
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The Cat in the Hat is a children's book written and illustrated by Theodor Seuss Geisel under the pen name Dr. Seuss and first published in 1957.
The story centers on a tall anthropomorphic cat who wears a red-and-white-striped hat and a red bow tie. The Cat shows up at the house of Sally and her brother (who is the narrator, by the way) one rainy day when their mother is away. Despite the repeated objections of the children's fish, the Cat shows the children a few of his tricks in an attempt to entertain them. In the process, he and his companions, Thing One and Thing Two wreck the house. The children and the fish become more and more alarmed until the Cat produces a machine that he uses to clean everything up and disappears just before the children's mother comes home.
Why It Gives You a Tip of the Hat
- Emotional moments such as the Cat cleaning the house at the end of the story after he realized what he had done was wrong and that he owed Conrad and Sally an apology.
- Tons of likable characters, like The Cat in the Hat and his henchmen, (Thing 1 and Thing 2), Conrad, and Sally.
- The Cat in the Hat was funny, well-meaning, and never made a threat.
- Thing 1 and Thing 2 were cute and funny sidekicks for The Cat in the Hat.
- The idea of a 6-foot tall anthropomorphic cat wearing a hat and a tie is somewhat funny.
- It spawned a few sequels such as The Cat in the Hat Comes Back and The Cat's Quizzer.
- It also spawned some well-made TV adaptations, such as Season 1 of The Wubbulous World of Dr. Seuss, DePatie-Freleng TV special, a Grinch crossover, and The Cat in the Hat Knows a Lot About That.
- The Living Books Version was also very great.
- The rap version of the book was very epic and awesome!
- Funny moments such as: "Put me down!" said the fish. "This is no fun at all! Put me down!" said the fish. "I DO NOT WISH TO FALL!"
Bad Qualities
- Some mean spirited moments, like the children's fish telling the Cat to get out.
- The 2003 live-action film adaptation has poor grasp of source material.
- The Cat himself was flanderized in Season 2 of The Wubbulous World of Dr. Seuss from a trickster to a kind, nurturing host with an annoying voice. He also got way too much screen time, with his subplots taking up the majority of each episode, and left less for the other Dr. Seuss characters (who only appeared in Seuss stories, presented by the Cat with his Wubbuloscope).