Who hasn’t read The Cat in the Hat, one of the most famous of a Dr Seuss’ children’s books? It’s a wonderful and engaging story about two children who find themselves home alone with a roguish, hat-wearing cat who causes havoc while their mother is away.
The story of how The Cat in the Hat came to be written is as interesting as the book itself. Dr Seuss, whose real name was Theodor Seuss Geisel, wrote The Cat in the Hat after a 1954 Life Magazine article criticized the relevance of the stories and illustrations in children’s first reading books, or ‘primers’. It was thought that these books had dull and characterless illustrations depicting the ‘perfect’ lives of other children and featured ‘abnormally courteous, unnaturally clean boys and girls. . . .’ The article suggested that these books had no relevance to the children’s lives and were so boring that they were, in fact, putting children off reading. Something had to be done to engage the children and encourage a love of reading.
As a response to this article, Dr Seuss was invited by a director of Houthton Mifflin’s education division to write a book for six year olds that would stimulate them and keep them reading. He was given a list of 348 words that every six year old should know, and the book’s vocabulary was to be limited to 225 words. It took Dr Seuss nine months to write The Cat in the Hat, which used 236 words (which was 11 words more than was specified) 223 of which were from the list given to him. The story is 1629 words in length. Of the 236 words used, 54 occur once and 33 twice. The longest words are something and playthings. Only one word – another – has three syllables. 14 words have two syllables and the remaining 221 words are monosyllabic.
The first edition of The Cat in the Hat was published in 1957 and went on to become a phenomenal success; it is still read by children all over the world today. Over the course of Dr Seuss’ long career, he wrote over 60 books and went on to become one of the most popular children’s authors of all time. His books have sold over 222 million copies worldwide, and have been translated into more than 15 languages. Dr Seuss died of throat cancer in September 1991 in San Diego, California. Without our beloved Dr. Seuss, children today might not have known the joys of reading.
