When Theodor Geisel wrote the Cat in the Hat he was already a well-established children’s author. Several of his books had been made into animated cartoons.
His publisher asked him to do what he could to reduce the literacy problem in the United States by writing a book that could be used as a reading primer. He was given a list of 225 words (There’s dispute on the actual number.) and told to make a story out of those words.
I didn’t learn to read by reading The Cat in the Hat. It didn’t come out until 1957 when I was nine and probably on to The Bobbsey Twins. I do remember reading The 500 Hats of Bartholomew Cubbins in the first grade, and being enthralled.
I can’t even estimate the number of hours I’ve spent with my children and grandchildren on my lap reading his wonderful “Dr. Seuss” books. In his honor, I made a list of the words used in The Cat in the Hat and devised a TG poem using only those words.
The sun would not shine.
I was too sad to play.
So we sat in the house
On that sad, sad, bad day.
