The Cat in the Hat

• Hardcover
• Juvenile beginning reading
• Stories with verses
• Rhymed verses.
• English

Features include:

•MPAA Rating: PG
•Format: DVD
•Runtime: 82 minutes
The Cat in the Hat is a marketing ploy disguised as a wildly designed movie for hyperactive kids, and it could use a dose of Ritalin. It hardly matters, though, because kids will surely enjoy the rampant romp that occurs when the top-hatted feline convinces young Sally (Dakota Fanning) and Conrad (Spencer Breslin) to wreak havoc in the home their mother (Kelly Preston) has neatly prepared for an upcoming party. It's all in the name of fun, and while Seuss's classic rhymes are relegated to voice-over narration, director Bo Welch capitalizes on his background as one of Hollywood's most gifted production designers (with credits including Edward Scissorhands and! Men in Black), turning the Seussian town of "Anville" into a playful pastiche of pastels. As played by Mike Myers under layers of fur and latex, Dr. Seuss's mischievous Cat is mayhem personified, and the movie suffers from his anything-goes approach to getting a laugh. And though Myers delivers a few laughs while channeling voices from his own comedic repertoire (including "Coffee Talk" maven Linda Richman), a little of this Cat goes a long way, and he nearly wears out his welcome. --Jeff ShannonPoor Dick and Sally. It's cold and wet and they're stuck in the house with nothing to do . . . until a giant cat in a hat shows up, transforming the dull day into a madcap adventure and almost wrecking the place in the process! Written by Dr. Seuss in 1957 in response to the concern that "pallid primers [with] abnormally courteous, unnaturally clean boys and girls' were leading to growing illiteracy among children, The Cat in the Hat (the first Ra! ndom House Beginner Book) changed the way our children learn h! ow to re ad.
He may be an old standby, but he never lets us down. When in doubt, turn to the story of the cat that transformed a dull, rainy afternoon into a magical and just-messy-enough adventure. There's another, hidden adventure, too: this book really will help children learn to read. With his simple and often single-vowel vocabulary, the good Doctor knew what he was doing: hear it, learn it, read it--laughing all the way. The Cat in the Hat is a must for any child's library.