The Cat in the Hat, written by Dr. Seuss, was created in an attempt to improve literacy among children in the United States. The book was published by Random House on March 12, 1957. The Cat in the Hat was a huge success, and is still a book children enjoy reading today, more than 50 years later. The book can even be purchased in 12 different languages.

The book begins with a little boy and girl forced to stay inside because of the rain while their mother goes out. A strange cat with a big red and white hat shows up at the kids’ door. The children find themselves at odds with the mischievous cat, who keeps making a mess in the house in an attempt to have fun.

If the Cat in the Hat wasn’t causing enough trouble, he opens a box and releases two more characters-Thing 1 and Thing 2. Thing 1 and Thing 2 make an even bigger mess when they begin flying kites inside the house. The family fish is seen throughout the story reminding the children that their mother would not like what was going on in the house.

At the very end of the book, the Cat in the Hat gets everything cleaned up just before the children’s mother walks in the door. When the mother asks her children what they did that day, the children debate about what they should tell her. No answer is given as to what they tell her, but it is implied that the day was so crazy she would not have believed them if they had told her what really went on.

Children relate to this book because they too have had times where they made a big mess. They know their parents would not approve of the mess, unless they took responsibility to clean it up. Parents like the book because it improves reading skills, and emphasizes several vocabulary words, such as umbrella, cake, and teacup.