The Cat in the Hat, Dr. Seuss

How many people do you know who have not read The Cat in the Hat at some point in their lives? Not many, I'm sure. It's a classic. I've probably read it at least five times and maybe more like ten. I just finished it now. It's funny though, because when I was little I didn't like it very much. I thought it was too long, a little boring, and didn't rhyme exactly right. I think I was one of those children who liked things to be consistent. I wanted a pattern in the rhyme that was easy to follow. This book certainly rhymes, but Dr. Seuss changes it up a little within each stanza. To me, it is a little irritating because I have a certain thought in my head about what comes next and Dr. Seuss is always surprising me. It is sort of like he mirrors the randomness and nonsense of the events in the story with the way he rhymes the words.

I realize now, after reading it as an adult, that is has some funny parodies. The fish, for instance, parodies adults that are always telling you what to do, or even those kids that are such goody-goodies and never want to do anything that is even a little outside of the rules. It also has a moral: always clean up. Who would have thought that a crazy cat such as the Cat in the Hat would have the decency to pick up after himself? I also enjoy the ending, "What would you do if your mother asked you?" Dr. Seuss never really tells the ending, but leaves it up to the reader. I think this last line is one of the major appeals to the book. It is an original sort of punch line.