Introducing…(drum roll, please)…The Cat in the Hat

“Look at Me!
Look at Me!
Look at me NOW!
It is fun to have fun
But you have to know how.”

Dr. Seuss (Theodor Seuss Geisel 1904-1991) wrote, illustrated, and published children’s books starting in the 1930s. However, The Cat in the Hat , which was published in 1957, is one of his most famous and influential works. The book changed the way beginning readers would read. Before that, beginner books to teach reading, such as the Dick and Jane primers were often repetitive and dull. Dr. Seuss felt that even though the words were simple, they didn’t have to be boring. They can have meter and rhyme, be nonsensical and whimsical. The Cat in the Hat has been translated into many languages and other media (e.g., television, film, educational software, coloring books). The film Dr. Seuss’ The Cat in the Hat (2003), which starred Mike Myers, Alec Baldwin, Kelly Preston, and Dakota Fanning.

Some Dr. Seuss facts:

• In 1984, Dr. Seuss won a Pulitzer Prize for his work in educating children and parents throughout the century.
• Dr. Seuss worked for many years as the head of Beginner Books for Random House.
• The Special Collections Library at the University of California, San Diego, houses many of his original drawings and notebooks.
• March 2, which is Dr. Seuss’s birthday, is National Read Across America Day.