this one feels like childhood and happiness.

This book was amazing. The film version really didn't do it justice, as they failed to identify the underlying sociopolitical themes in this work. The "cat" is really Communist Russia, invading the "house" (western civilization) and attempting to impose "fun" (Communism). When the "cat" makes a mess of things, he brings in some complex contraption (the space program? This is open to interpretation) to clean the house up and keep the children happy, while also subtly implying that the children in the book are inferior due to their lack of a cleaning machine. The "things," ingeniously labeled "Thing 1" and "Thing 2" are the concepts of social inequality and economic instability, kept in a "box" since pre-WWII and about to be unleashed unless the "children" (the US? UN? Could be any significant Western power) do something about it. Dr. Seuss delivers a profound and deeply emotional read using language that even children can comprehend and enjoy. My condolences to anyone who has not had the good fortune to stumble upon this literary work of art.

I started this novella in the hopes that I would be exposed to gritty dialogue and realistic plot developments. I was severely discomfited. My first worry came when I noticed that a cat was wearing a hat. This is completely distressing as the question of which maniac saw fit to adorn an ill-coloured hat on this obviously insane cat is never answered. The abrasive and genuinely shit drawings detract from the plot as the reader's imagination is completely dismissed. It is plain laziness to illustrate a novella to this degree, it also seems perverse to depict a cat as some sort of post-human gimp. This leads me to the belief that Dr. Seuss is a pervert and wishes to have his way with cats in hats. I am appalled by this large pile of turtle turds that was somehow smudged onto paper to form what is known as The Twat in the Hat.

Five stars because my children loved it so much.

****½

This book has always given me the impression that Dr. Seuss is a master mischief maker. He has this smarmy Cat barge his way into these poor kid's house (when their mother isn’t home) and then he proceeds to make a colossal mess. It’s all very distressing.

In fact, as a child, I don’t think I found this book amusing at all. It preyed on all my worst fears like being ‘home alone,’ having pushy strangers take control, and scary ‘clown-like’ accessories like monster hats. I much preferred Suess’ nonthreatening One Fish, Two Fish, Red Fish, Blue Fish.

As an adult though, I find this fanciful tale wonderfully satisfying. There’s an old fairytale feel to it that reminds me of sprites coming in and rearranging the furniture. There’s also a whimsical message that says, ‘quit being so uptight…things will work out.’ The movie Risky Business has the exact same story and the exact same premise with Lana being the Cat and the classic line, “Sometimes you just have to say, what the f%*#.” :D

So all in all, while I don't think this is the best kid's book, I'm rather fond of it as an adult.

I recall this book caused me much stress as a child - much like the kittens who come in and wreck the doll house in the Sesame Street short film. However, as an adult reading it to my own kids, they were never shaken by the mess - they were interested in how the kids would manage to pull off the whole debacle.

They talk about how their mother is out, well, are these young children unsupervised when a chaotic cat in the hat just randomly shows up? Or is the fish their supervisor? I have questions.
Granted, I read this while high so...

“The Cat in the Hat” was one of Dr. Seuss’ most popular children’s books ever created. The book featured the stove pipe hat feline troublemaker who tries to show two bored kids how to have fun on a rainy day with disastrous results. The Cat in the Hat has forever remained to be one of the most popular figures in children’s literature ever!

Dr. Seuss’ superb rhyming text is as creative as it is funny. He easily finds the perfect rhyming of each word while telling a story through his rhymes. Dr. Seuss’ illustrations are also excellent in this book as the coloring in this book mostly consists of red, white, blue, and black. Dr. Seuss’ illustrations always stand out from other children’s books and the illustration that stood out the most was the image of Sally being pulled by one of the kite strings as Thing One and Thing Two are playing recklessly in the house. Most children’s do not put images of children being pulled by something that could endanger them, but “The Cat in the Hat” does it so delicately that it is not really a threat to the book’s young audience. This image also showcases that when the boy emphasizes that what the Things were doing was not fun at all, he shows Sally being forcefully pulled in by the Things’ riotous antics.

“The Cat in the Hat” is known as the cult classic from Dr. Seuss and deserves this honor. The book strongly emphasize the consequences of letting a stranger into a house while the adult is away and how the boy finally comes to his senses to realize that both he and Sally could get in trouble with their mother if he does not stop the Things from destroying the house. “The Cat in the Hat” is a greatly treasured book that will remain to be popular for many years.

Review is also on: Rabbit Ears Book Blog

Loved this one and I passed my love on to my sons. Unfortunately as they got older they enjoyed the movie more.

Another book I read as a child. One I have shared with my nieces and nephews. Excellent book for interesting young people in reading.

The book that started it all...

(It's a shame that Mike Myers ruined this great work with that abysmal live-action version of his. However, if you're a fan of this, you should check out the original animated special.)

A very thrilling novel that delves deep into the lives of headdressed cats. While it is not an easy read by any means, it is well worth the seven months it has taken me to get through it. Upon finishing it, I now must say the world is a different place to me. That's right, this book changed my life.