Over 70 years after the completing his first book And to Think That I Saw It On Mulberry Street, the writing of Dr Seuss continues to captivate both adults and children. So what is the story of the enduring appeal of the cat with the striped millenary and his two blue haired henchmen?
Dr Seuss or Theodore Seuss Giesel was born on the 2nd March 1904. Ted, as he was known to his friends, studied at Oxford, produced training literature and instruction films for troops fighting in Germany and Japan during World War II and eventually became an early ecological commentator. Concerned at the consequences of the evolving western society having too much of a good thing and effecting the natural environmental, Seuss penned The Lorax, a tale of a Once-ler building a large business to the detriment of the Truffala trees and their associates creatures. However, despite the large and successful catalogue of his work that, at the time of his death in 2001, has resulted in over 200 million sales world wide in 15 languages, it is the Beginner Book, The Cat in the Hat, probably the most recognisable of all his works.
So, what of the famous hatted feline and his associates of red boxed fame? Written at the outset of his career, and some would say the catalyst for it, The Cat in the Hat shares the adventures of an uninvited cat who enters the house of young siblings whose mother is out of the house on a cold wet day. Bringing with him his own brand of tricks, chaos ensues as he attempts to bring smiles to the bored children watching the rain at the window. Being reprimanded by the childrens gold fish, who ends up lecturing from the confines of a teapot, the cat, after standing on a ball and holding up various domestic items, falls and crashes to the floor breaking several items and generally creating a large mess.
Undeterred by the demonstrations by the fish in the pot to leave, the cat continues with his tricks bringing in a large red box with a hook and unleashes two red suited, blue haired creatures referred to as Thing One and Thing Two. The two creatures then wreck their own brand of havoc on the children's house until caught in a net by the young boy and shut back in their red box by the Cat in the Hat.
Spying the children's mother returning the fish starts to panic at the thought of her reaction to the huge domestic mess left by the cats tricks. However, the Cat returns once more with a machine to tidy the house and everything is clean and tidy as the children's mother makes her on the final page of the book with a shapely leg, red jacket and foxy pair of black mary janes.
Part of the Beginner Book Series written by Seuss for new readers increasing their vocabularies, the books simple illustrations using a limited variation of just three colours, are effective in drawing attention to the important details. The story is easy to follow, the concepts simple and the minimal number of characters keeps the reader focused on the antics of the central characters actions. The introduction of Thing One and Thing Two add an unexpected twist to the plot and the excitement of how the Cat will rescue the situation at the end with imminent arrival of the children's mother is crucial.
However, the true star of the Cat in the Hat, as with all Seuss writing is the language. For adults reading to children the language is expressive, the rhymes consistent, the pace quickens and slows in line with the story unfolding and the repetition of words is a useful leaning tool in the vocabulary of the recipient child.
Written over 50 years ago, the story is as compelling and fun now, as it was then and it would seem that imaginations the world over continue to be smitten by the possibility of a rainy day appearance of a stripy hatted feline and two blue haired vertically challenged associates. If Seuss didn't change the course of children's fiction, he certainly brightened it.
