The Cat in the Hat

The Cat in the Hat

4.12 of 5 stars 4.12  ·  rating details  ·  165,770 ratings  ·  2,345 reviews
Join the Cat in the Hat as he makes learning to read a joy – not a task.
This beloved classic Beginner Book by Dr. Seuss is fun to read aloud and easy to read alone. Written using 236 different words that any first or second grader can read, this timeless book is a fixture in home and school libraries and a favorite among parents, beginning readers, teachers, and librarians...more
Hardcover, 72 pages
Published March 12th 1957 by Random House Books for Young Readers (first published 1957)
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Community Reviews

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Nataliya
Mar 30, 2012 Nataliya rated it 2 of 5 stars Recommends it for: Horror afficionados
This "kids' book" is, in my opinion, a nightmare-quality horror story. Why, you ask? What's scary about a funny-looking cat? *shudder* Well, what's so scary about these cute things?

description
(Well, there actually is nothing scary about that last one. That still doesn't make it any less of a nightmare.)

Sometimes I have nightmares where everything goes wrong, but I am helpless to do anything about it. What's worse, the voice of reason is gone. Well, that pretty much sums up the plot of this book. As a hor...more
Sandi
I really can't stand this book. It's one of those my son had me read over and over when he was little. Seriously, what kind of mother leaves her young children home alone? Who is this cat? Why is he such a troublemaker? Is it okay that they do all that rotten stuff just because it all gets cleaned up before mom gets home? What kind of trouble will this brother and sister be getting into in their teens. This is a very disturbing book.
Valerie
I like that at the end of this book, when the mother comes home and the text reads:

Should we tell her about it?
Now, what SHOULD we do?
Well...
What would YOU do
If your mother asked YOU?

My daughter always looks up at me and says: I would tell you.

But I don't believe her. I think it's quite possible that the Cat in the Hat has already been here, and she's just telling me what I want to hear.
Justine Arndt
I would recommend The Cat in the Hat to anybody. Dr. Seuss wrote this book like poetry by having the lines rhyme with each other. The story of the book is don't trust strangers; in this case the cat with the hat. The cat brings a box to children at home while their mother is gone, and the cat ends up causing chaos with thing one an thing two. It can teach children a good lesson on how to be responsible when their parents are not around. The pictures in the book make it very enjoyable to read. I...more
Ronyell
“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. Se...more
Clear_enGlish
A treasured memory from childhood, I bought many Dr. Seuss books to read to my children when they were small.
I discovered a surprising thing; I thought that I was well read and a literate adult..., reading these books out aloud requires great concentration and voice control (especially with a critical kid listening). However clever you may think you are, reading these books out aloud will improve your public speaking and help you to win friends and influence people :-)
Go ahead, have some fun and...more
Francois Jabbour
Now the book starts off with a single mother and her two kids. Immediately, we realise the mother is single as there is no mention of a father. Perhaps the father is dead? Maybe they divorced? Either way, that's no excuse for the mother to be running off during a dark and stormy night (the perfect setting for some freaky horror movie) to go out with her gals and get her drink on.

Anyways, the mother leaves the kids alone, at home. We can assume they are both under the age of 10. They have no adul...more
Lucie
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.
Ivonne Rovira
Jun 15, 2013 Ivonne Rovira rated it 5 of 5 stars Recommends it for: tots and former tots who remember the thrill of getting away with stuff
People like to berate The Cat in the Hat for what it's not. It's not beautifully illustrated, like The Water Babies by Charles Kingsley or Beatrix Potter's The Complete Adventures of Peter Rabbit. Nor is it lyrical like Goodnight Moon by Margaret Wise Brown, Miss Bianca by Margery Sharp or Charlotte's Web by E.B. White.

But, along with Dr. Seuss' One Fish, Two Fish, Red Fish, Blue Fish, it was one of the very first books I ever owned or read. My Cuban parents didn't read English -- not then -- an...more
Stephen
3.5 stars. My favorite Dr. Seuss book as a kid. I was very happy to be able to read this out loud with my five year old daughter and have her love it as much as I did.
Ashley Cooper
Really good book. Bit of a complicated plot, but the pictures help.
Suzanne
Middle school and all the reading gags and promotional hooha has ruined this book for me. I encourage everyone to read. But I cant stand when people commercialize and advertise, and politicize something as purely fun as reading. All the reading politicians I know choose this book to symbolize all the reading fun one can have. I hate this cat! I hate this hat! I hate posing for pictures to show the county we read in the hallway back to back!
Nishanth
This is one of the book that my lil bro lent me.

AND I LOVED IT.

It was written long ago.

Why didn't anyone get me a copy then? *sigh* immouta topic.

Dr. Seuss' is a man who plays with words. He pulls off the same trick here. Nothing too special. But the description is fun.


PS: This is not the review you were looking for.
Sajeda Assenjee
Quite simply a wonderful book for fun loving mischievous children. While mothers away, the children have nothing to do on the wet, wet day until the cat in the hat arrives. The cat runs around the house making mayhem which upsets the poor fish who doesn’t want to take part in these careless games. The children are staggered by his behaviour but terrified of how their mother will react when she returns. As his juggling achievements look to be spinning out of control, the cat reluctantly clears up...more
Keivn
It was very good but some times I got confused cause the words got all jumbled up in my mind.
Jasmine Quash
Clever nonetheless! (:
Gigi
My least favorite Dr. Suess book. As another person commented it stressed me as a child reading it because I knew the mother would come home and I didn't want her to be upset. This must have effected me a lot because even while reading it to my children I would feel anxious and I always felt the Cat in the Hat was just plain selfish.

*personal note: My mother was very laid back and so I don't know why I had this anxiety issue, I think I would be OCD if I wasn't so lazy when it comes to daily rout...more
William Galaini
Rarely have I read something so steeped in religious iconography and biblical metaphor as this. Theodor Geisel's books tend to contain deep analogies for class struggle, ecological conservatism, and progressive racial stances but this appears to be his largely biblical children's book.

Allow me to explain:

A boy and a girl (Adam and Eve) are home watching the rain (flood?) while their mother figure leaves them to their own devices. Worthy of note is that the mother is only really seen from the ank...more
Nancy Simioni
This is such a great fun-to-read book that gets all children interested in reading.
Did I read it a lot to my son? Oh yes, over and over and over again.
Although that was 20+ years ago I can still recite the first few pages:
"The sun did not shine it was too wet to play.
So we sat in the house all that cold cold wet day.
I sat there with Sally, we sat there we two,
and I said how I wished we had something to do.
Too wet to go out, too cold to play ball,
so we sat in the house and did nothing at all.
Al...more
Maris Digiovanni
The Cat In the Hat is a great book to use to introduce children to poetry. It has rather simple vocabulary and there is a consistent rhyming pattern throughout the book. This makes it easier for children to follow and creates a sense of flow in their reading because they are able to anticipate how the next line of words should be read. Dr. Seuss books are always fun for children to read because he has such a large imagination. For example, in The Cat In the Hat the children spend the day enterta...more
Carolyn Mccargish
The genre of the story is humor, humor young children are exposed to as they learn how to read.
The cat in the Hat is an engaging and entertaining book for young children to read. The rhyming of the cat in the hat is helpful for young readers as they learn how to read. Parents are able to assist their young children through characters from the book "The Cat in The Hat". The story is in spiritual and full of spirit through rhyming text throughout which is encouraging to young readers. The storyli...more
Alvina
The Cat in The Hat datang ke rumah I dan Sally saat Ibu mereka tidak ada di rumah.
The Cat in The Hat mengajak mereka bermain, meski di luar hujan, tapi permainan yang menyenangkan selalu bisa dimainkan di dalam rumah.

The Cat in The Hat mulai menumpuk barang di tangan kanan, tangan kiri dan di atas topinya yang tinggi. Semakin lama semakin banyak dan semakin tinggi tumpukannya. Lalu.. 'Bump!!' Semua jatuh..

Tapi tenang. The Cat in The Hat punya permainan lainnya. Ia membawa sebuah kotak besar beri...more
Leah Robinson
Cat in the hat is a very fun and easy book for kids to read. As the book takes you through a rainy day with sally and her brother, kids will laugh out loud. As sally and her brother ignore their bossy fish and let the cat in the hat have fun with them, kids will be able to relate to this book in many ways. They could relate to this book, in a discussion of what they do on rainy days, or if they have ever done something that was not their idea or that they did not want their parents to find out a...more
Samantha Hagler
A classic. And one of Dr. Seuss's most popular books. Dick and Sally are left home alone on a rainy day and have nothing to do, until an unfamiliar Cat wearing a big hat comes along. The kids let this Cat in and the house becomes a wreck with the Cat and his two Things destroying absolutely everything. While their parents are on the way home, Dick and Sally are wondering how this mess will ever get cleaned up, until the Cat cleans it up with a handy machine and gets it back to perfect right befo...more
Ashley Campbell
The Cat in the Hat holds a special place in my heart as the first book I ever read on my own. However, when revisiting this Seuss classic (which more knowledge on children's literature) I found that this book is not only a classic because of its popularity with children, but also because of its many proficient elements.
As everyone knows, the story revolves around two children and a mischievous cat who wears a hat. When the mother leaves for the afternoon, the children find chaos when the Cat in...more
Elise Marshall
Oh Cat In The Hat, I love love love this book! It is such a classic book that anyone can enjoy whether you are a beginner or a college student its such a fun book to read. The rhyming in this book is something that is really great for young readers, it is easier for them to rad on their own. This book is great to have in the classroom for students who are behind in the grade level reading or beginners that are just starting. Having this book in your classroom library is great because it can get...more
Alexandra
Grade/Interest Level: Pre-K
Reading Level: 260L
Genre: Fantasy, Picture Book, Fantasy
Main Characters: A boy, A girl, and the Cat in the Hat
Setting: Boy and girl’s house
POV: Narrator

This book is about two children who are home alone on a rainy day. They are bored and do not know what to do. Then, a magical cat in a hat arrives. The cat plays a few odd games, such as balancing many items while standing on a ball and bringing out thing one and thing two. The children’s fish does not approve of the ca...more
Jessica Berry
This book is about two children who are home alone on a rainy day. They are bored and do not know what to do. Then, a cat in a hat walks in. The cat plays a few odd games, such as balancing many items while standing on a ball and bringing out thing one and thing two. The children’s fish does not approve of the cat being in the house when their mother is not home. He is constantly trying to get the cat to leave. The cat and thing one and thing two make the house very messy. The fish makes the cat...more
Samantha Duncan
1. The genre this falls under is a controlled vocabulary book (Dr. Seuss)
2. This story is about a little boy and girl who are bored home alone. They want something to do but don't know what to do. Then the 'Cat in the Hat' shows up. He messed up their whole house with his tricks and his "thing 1 and thing 2". Then when the children get upset because their mother will be home soon, they order him to leave. He decides to clean up his whole mess before he leaves.
3. A). The area for comment for this...more
Marquavion Willis
The Cat in the Hat (1957) is the first book featuring the title character. In it the Cat brings a cheerful, exotic and exuberant form of chaos to a household of two young children, brother and sister, one rainy day while their mother leaves them unattended. The Cat performs all sorts of wacky tricks—the Cat at one point balances a teacup, some milk, a cake, three books, the Fish, a rake, a toy boat, a toy man, a red fan, and his umbrella while he is on a ball to the chagrin of the fish—to amuse...more
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The cat in the hat (Unknown Binding)
The Cat in the Hat (Hardcover)
The Cat in the Hat (Deluxe Edition) (Classic Seuss)
The Cat In The Hat (Paperback)
The Cat In The Hat

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Theodor Seuss Geisel was born 2 March 1904 in Springfield, MA. He graduated Dartmouth College in 1925, and proceeded on to Oxford University with the intent of acquiring a doctorate in literature. At Oxford he met Helen Palmer, who he wed in 1927. He returned from Europe in 1927, and began working for a magazine called Judge, the leading humor magazine in America at the time, submitting both carto...more
More about Dr. Seuss...
Green Eggs and Ham How the Grinch Stole Christmas Oh, the Places You'll Go! The Lorax One Fish, Two Fish, Red Fish, Blue Fish

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“Look at me!
Look at me!
Look at me NOW!
It is fun to have fun
But you have to know how.”
989 people liked it
“And this mess is so big
And so deep and so tall,
We cannot pick it up.
There is no way at all!”
441 people liked it
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