The Cat in the Hat (1957) is a book in rhyme about a fictional cat created by Dr. Seuss. He brings a cheerful and exuberant form of chaos to the household of two young children one day, while their mother is out. Bringing with him Thing One and Thing Two, the Cat does every trick a naughty child might wish, vainly opposed by a conscientious fish. The children (Sally and her older brother, who is 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.

The book has been very popular since its publication.

Seuss wrote the book because he felt that there should be more entertaining and fun material for beginning readers; the text includes only 220 common words. From a literary point of view, the book is a feat of skill, since it simultaneously maintains a strict triple meter, keeps to a tiny vocabulary, and tells a very entertaining tale. Literary critics occasionally write recreational essays about the work, having fun with issues such as the (slightly disturbing) absence of the mother and the psychological or symbolic characterizations of Cat, Things, and Fish.

The Cat in the Hat made a return appearance in The Cat in the Hat Comes Back (1958). On this occasion, he leaves Thing One and Thing Two at home, but does bring along Little Cat A, nested inside his hat. Little Cat A doffs his hat to reveal Little Cat B, who in turn reveals C, and so on down to the microscopic Little Cat Z, who turns out to be the key to the plot...

Adaptations

A 30-minute animated musical adaptation of The Cat in the Hat was produced for television in the early 1970s. One of the producers was Chuck Jones, who also produced the animated adaptation of How the Grinch Stole Christmas. Allan Sherman provided the voice of the Cat.

The Cat in the Hat was also the basis for the live-action movie of the same title released on November 21, 2003 with Mike Myers in the title role. The film, incorporating sexual and scatological humor into Seuss's story, was denounced by many critics (some of whom also said that the MPAA should have given it a stricter rating than "PG"), but still earned the top weekend grosses for domestic films in its first two weekends.

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