Fifty years of "The Cat In The Hat"

TMI brings word of the golden anniversary of "The Cat In the Hat", which was first published in March of 1957, and links to The Annotated Cat, a book about the two Cat books. One "did you know" fact they highlight:

The ring removal in The Cat in the Hat Comes Back recalls Ted Geisel's work on the 1935 advertisement for a spot remover called Ex-tame.

Here's the thing. Say you're Dick or Sally. This cat, whose tricks you know all too well, has invaded your house again, and has introduced accomplices for his mischief. At the point where Little Cats A, B, and C succeed in blowing the pink stain outside onto the snow, does it really make sense to insist that they then clean up the snow? I mean, it's snow for crying out loud. It'll melt. Your house and everything in it is clean, and all you need to do is say "Okay, thanks very much, we'll take it from here, nice seeing you, now goodbye." Why wouldn't you just do that?

Because it wouldn't have made for any fun, I suppose. Seuss' book is much more entertaining his way. We should be thankful that those kids didn't learn enough from the previous time to leave well enough alone.

Posted by Charles Kuffner on February 27, 2007 to Books