Fifty Years of 'The Cat in the Hat'

Parent Cafe
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<p>Happy Birthday to a mischievous, irrepressible soul - to the Cat who, at 50, will always seem ageless. </p>

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<p><a href=“http://www.seussville.com/CITH_50th/[/url]”>http://www.seussville.com/CITH_50th/&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

<p><a href=“http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=7651308[/url]”>Fifty Years of 'The Cat in the Hat' : NPR;

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<p>“The sun did not shine. It was too wet to play. So we sat in the house, all that cold, cold wet day…”</p>

<p>The problem with The Cat in the Hat is that I read it to my kids so many times that the entire book – word for word – is permanently stuck in my head, kind of like those songs that play over and over inside your skull even though you don’t really want to.</p>

<p>AAAAAHHH!!!</p>

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<p>I love Dr. Seuss</p>

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<p>“The Cat in the Hat” has had waaaaaaaaaaaay more than nine lives! In fact, I do believe that he’s immortal! :smiley: </p>

<p>By the way, “The Cat in the Hat Comes Back” was highly influential with regard to our method of housecleaning! We have adopted the “pink spot” method: Just keep moving the piles of junk from one place to another! :wink: Works for us! :)</p>

<p>~berurah</p>

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<p>For us it was “The Cat in the Hat Comes Back”… This was no time for play this was no time for fun, this was no time for games, there was work to be done!
BTW- there’s a new book called the Annotated Cat in the Hat about how Dr. Seuss wrote the books.</p>

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<p>prefect - I enjoyed reading the featured excerpt from “The Annotated Cat” in the linked NPR piece.</p>

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<p>Btw, his other claim to fame - outside of the States, people still ask for the “flit” when requesting insecticide - I had no idea that the term came from Dr. Seuss.</p>

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<p>Oh,my. Seuss is revered in my family. “Green Eggs and Ham” was my son’s all time favorite. He did learn to read with Seuss. “Hop on Pop.” I think the rhyming, rhythm and over-the-top fun of Seuss was irresistable. </p>

<p>I hope that kids still find it so today. Parent’s of little ones; does Seuss still captivate today’s kids? </p>

<p>I never saw the movie, but I heard it was not well done - which made me very sad. I was afraid it may have spoiled Seuss for a whole generation.
I’d love to hear that it’s not true.</p>

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<p>The twin saints of board-book literature are Suess (I have a framed print of a San Diego museum’s Suess show on my office wall – the museum had a giant Cat in the Hat on its roof during the show) and PD Eastman: “Do you like this hat? Do you like my party hat?” “No I do not.”</p>

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<p>Absolutely. “Are You My Mother,” was another household (Eastman)favorite.</p>

<p>They so loved comparing me to some of the less lovable “mothers” in the book!</p>

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<p>I think Dr. Seuss was a genius. His books are like no other. His way with language was in a class by itself. Also, while his books were fun and great for learning to read, several of them have rich meaning and even underlying meaning for adults. </p>

<p>Two of Seuss’ books were set to music (using word for word from the books) as operas for family audiences which have been performed with numerous symphony orchestras. My daughter was fortunate to be cast in these two operas (which involve one adult and one child as the cast) and has performed them with various symphonies in the US and Canada. They are the wonderful stories/scores of Green Eggs and Ham (she played Sam) and Gertrude McFuzz (she was Gertrude). So, we have some fond memories of Seuss in terms of performing arts, let alone as books my kids read when young. A.S.A.P.: I do believe that Seuss is timeless and surely captivates young children today (I’ve been a teacher of young children and these books have endured the test of time).</p>

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<p>We are HUGE Dr. Seuss fans here!!! S1’s favorite (just like A.S.A.P.'s son): “Green Eggs and Ham”. He wanted me to read it over and over again, and would chime in “I do not like them, Sam I Am”! </p>

<p>I distinctly remember D at 18 mo., waking up at midnight on a very long Christmas cartrip cooing over every set of Christmas lights we passed “oooh weeee!!” To keep her distracted I read her one of her new books “One Fish, Two Fish”, and that became her favorite!! We finally had to pull over and stay in a hotel because she would not go back to sleep, and we were exhausted!!</p>

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<p>Green Eggs and Ham is the first memory I have of a book.</p>

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<p>My favorite (reading to my son) was Fox in Socks.</p>

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<p>My D received a copy of There’s a Wocket in My Pocket! for her 2nd birthday (we had a "book-giving theme party). It remains her favorite Seuss book, and sits on her desk in her room to this moment. How many of our kids received Oh The Places You’ll Go for graduation gifts? (2 here)</p>

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<p>Socialist propaganda.</p>

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<p>The Cat in the Hat is one of my earliest memories. I remember crying in the store, “I want the Cat in the Hat!” and my parents would not buy it for me. The next day was Christmas Day, and there it was. That is probably also, my first memory of being embarassed by my behaviour! I loved that book. I memorized it and would <em>read</em> it out loud over and over . . . And yet, I can’t remember it word for word now . . . that’s my brain. Not very retentive. </p>

<p>Anyway, my hubby and I are BIG Seuss fans. Happy Birthday Cat in the Hat!</p>

<p>I did not know that Green Eggs and Ham is an opera! Learn something new every day (here on cc, hee hee).</p>

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<p>Have any of you seen or heard about the banned Dr. Seuss book (not written by Seuss, but by his wife)?</p>

<p>Here’s a link. I think it’s true, but have never actually seen it.</p>

<p><a href=“News, Politics, Sports, Mail & Latest Headlines - AOL.com”>News, Politics, Sports, Mail & Latest Headlines - AOL.com;

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<p>You haven’t, because there isn’t such a thing: <a href=“http://www.snopes.com/language/literary/seussban.asp[/url]”>http://www.snopes.com/language/literary/seussban.asp&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

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<p>Thanks WashDad. Funny thing is I actually wondered as I read the webpage what the pictures were that would have accompanied the written word. So the book does exist, however was never “banned” and without the pictures (photos, even, rather than drawn), can be interpreted any way, shape, or form. I especially like the “blow my head off” with the kid playing the tuba!</p>

<p>Out of context, much can be misconstrued.</p>

<p>Thanks again.</p>

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<p>A sobering thought…would Seuss be published today? Already books like the one about Horton hatching the egg are virtually banned. Would Roald Dahl have a hard time today? Wiiliam Pene DuBois?
I homeschooled my kids (sill am) and have a hard time finding worthwhile books for the young published in the last 40 years or so. Yeah, I’m a foggy, but still…</p>