Cat In The Hat
P oor Dick and Sally. It’s cold and wet and they’re stuck in the house with nothing to do . . . until a giant cat in a hat shows up, transforming the dull day into a madcap adventure and almost wrecking the place in the process! Written by Dr. Seuss in 1957 in response to the concern that “pallid primers [with] abnormally courteous, unnaturally clean boys and girls’ were leading to growing illiteracy among children, The Cat in the Hat (the first Random House Beginner Book) changed the way our children learn how to read.
Cat In The Hat -Dr. Seus
In the first book featuring the character (The Cat in the Hat, 1957), the Cat brings a cheerful, exotic and exuberant form of chaos to a household of two young children one rainy day while their mother is out. Bringing with him two creatures appropriately named Thing One and Thing Two, the Cat performs all sorts of wacky tricks to amuse the children, with mixed results. The Cat’s antics are vainly opposed by the family pet, who is a sentient and articulate goldfish. The children (Sally and her older brother, who serves as the narrator) ultimately prove exemplary latchkey children, capturing the Things and bringing the Cat under control. He cleans up the house on his way out, disappearing seconds before the mother arrives.
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Dr. Seuss’s “The Cat in the Hat” is one of the great classics of children’s literature. I’m sure that a less daring author would have left well enough alone. But the good Dr. Seuss had the nerve to write a sequel! And, I’m happy to say, “The Cat in the Hat Comes Back” matches the subversive lunacy and imaginative wit of the Cat’s first adventure.
The story begins with our narrator, the same little boy from the original “Cat,” shoveling snow with his sister Sally. And, as in the first book, the Cat in the Hat arrives to turn their dull day topsy-turvy.
But this is no retread of the first book. The wily Cat has some new tricks to share, and some new friends to introduce to us. Little Cat A, Little Cat B, and the rest-including some brilliant surprises-are wonderful additions to the “Cat” mythos.
As in the original, the book has some unsettling nuances. Why are these kids home alone? Just what is that bizarre pink substance in the bathtub? But leave it to the psychologists and literary critics to debate the possible hidden meanings of the book; kids will enjoy the delightful rhymes and wacky illustrations. Congratulations, Dr. Seuss: you have shown that the sequel to a classic can be just as excellent as the beloved original!
Source: amazon.com wikia.com