The Cat in the Hat

The Cat in the Hat is a 1957 children’s book written and illustrated by American cartoonist, author, and animator Theodor Geisel, who published under the better-known pseudonym, Dr. Seuss. Told from the perspective of an unnamed boy, it features a tall, humanlike cat with a zebra-striped hat and red bowtie who interrupts the ordinary lives of the boy and his sister, Sally. The children watch, mostly powerless, as their pet fish quarrels with the cat as it brings a whirlwind of chaos to their house on a rainy day when their parents are gone. The Cat brings in two of his friends, Thing One and Thing Two, creating such a mess that the narrator and Sally fear they will bear the consequences when their mother comes home. Dr. Seuss wrote the book in reaction to skepticism about the value of early childhood literacy in the United States, hoping to devise a book that would entertain and teach at the same time. The book is now one of the most famous works of children’s literature of all time.

The Cat and the Hat begins as the narrator and Sally sit glumly in their house during a storm, absorbed in their isolation and boredom. Suddenly, they hear a loud noise, followed by the appearance of the Cat in the Hat. The Cat suggests that he entertain Sally and her brother using his inventory of tricks. The pet fish intervenes and tells that Cat to go away before he causes any trouble. The Cat taunts the fish, taking it from its fishbowl and balancing it on top of his umbrella. The game quickly escalates from the simple balancing act to an elaborate performance during which the Cat teeters atop a ball, stacking himself with various household objects. He eventually loses his balance and everything comes crashing down. The fish scolds the Cat but is rebuffed again.

The Cat suggests that he continue entertaining the children with another game. Dragging a giant red box into the house, he releases twin creatures with childlike proportions, blue hair, and red jumpsuits. He introduces them as Thing One and Thing Two. The Things start to wreak havoc around the house, knocking down objects, flying kites, and playing with the new gown of the narrator and Sally’s mother. Their antics are cut short when the fish sees the children’s mother approaching the house. Sally’s brother quickly captures Thing One and Thing Two with a large net; the Cat, clearly embarrassed, returns them to their red crate. He leaves sullenly through the front door, leaving the fish and the children to take stock of the destruction.



Just before the children’s mother arrives, the Cat returns atop a huge machine with a number of protruding appendages that go to work cleaning up the house. The fish and children are overjoyed to see the damage reversed just in time. Just before their mother enters the house, the Cat bids them farewell and exits. Their mother asks what they did while she was gone, and the children don’t answer. The narrator then turns to the reader and asks, “What would you do if your mother asked you?”