The Cat in the Hat :: Education by Design Store

Customer Reviews

Oh, that darn cat!

2008-05-10
In my opinion, this is, besides being the most well-known concept of Dr. Seuss, one of the best things he has written save "Oh, the Places You'll Go!" Tis the season of Seuss right now, and as I read this book to my class I was once again enchanted by the sheer awesomeness of this story. The writing has an awesome beat and flow and the pictures are hilarious! Who can not love the banter between Cat and Fish with their surprisingly detailed personalities? Great book for a rainy day.

Cat in da hat rocks!

2008-02-23
This is the first book i read to my son that he didn't cry to and listened to the end at only 6 weeks! I'm sure it was just that he was in a good mood though!

Timeless Classic

2008-02-10
When I can, I plan to purchase the entire series of Dr. Seuss books for my child being that his style of poetic prose is so appealing to children. It presents concepts in a way that don't stop to make them "think"; yet encourage a style of their own "brain-storming" that allows them to try to understand how silly chit-chat can become something interesting in a very sensible; yet diverse manner. LLO'C

Great bilingual Cat in the Hat!

2008-02-10
I have this delightful book in English, Japanese, Spanish, and now in Chinese. Availability in all these languages is magnificent for children for many reasons. It allows children of these linguistic background to enjoy this great book. It is a wonderful attitudinal validation of these languages, especially if read in a school setting where English is the predominant language of instructin. This is valuable for chldren of every linguistic background. It contributes to the appreciation and awareness of these languages. This is so very important for inter-linguistic/cultural harmony and understanding. All of these benefits through a story that is so much fun!!!

Big D's Review

2008-01-31
The Cat in the Hat is a funny and wacky and crazy book but is definitely for the younger crowd. The author is Dr. Seuss. In this book, he expresses his talent in more ways than you can imagine. The younger crowd is amazed and dazzled at what this book is about. The book is about 2 kids at home all alone on a rainy day. They can't find anything to do. Then, they hear a noise and a hilarious, crazy, and zany cat comes out of nowhere and cheers up the kids with things that the kids did not even think was possible! I would rate this book 5 stars no doubt!

My daughter is only 21 months old, and this seems to be her favorite book

2008-01-23
One wet, rainy day while mother is out, a boy and a girl sit dejectedly in their chairs, watching the rain beat against the window. They're bored. Suddenly, in bursts a large cat in a tall striped hat, ready to play - and not just ordinary games, oh no! This cat likes to create mischief and mayhem, and to aid him, he brings Thing One and Thing Two. These two small fuzzy blue imps race around the house, wreaking havoc. Who's going to clean up this mess? This most famous of all the Beginner Books has been beloved by readers young and old since 1957.

Format: Hardcover, 61pp.
ISBN: 039480001x
Publisher: Random House, Incorporated
Publication Date: May 1976
Recommended Age Range: 4 to 7

Classic 2007-12-29
This story -- as with most Dr. Seuss books -- is great. Kids and adults can enjoy The Cat in the Hat!

Graphic SF Reader 2007-09-03
When the parental units away, the cat will play. Take a kid, and a cat, and a lot of smaller cats, and a bunch of toys, and many snowballs and other devices of childish warfare, and you get a barrel of laughs and entertainment, indeed.

You just have to be good at the fast cleanup.

A MUST in any kid's library 2007-08-31
What can I say, it's The Cat in the Hat. You remember this book from your own childhood. Let's face it, it's one you have to own. The rhymes, the fun story, it's Dr. Seuss at his best. My kids will pick this book to read over and over, and over! Even my 19 month-old can get into the Rhyming and playful wording. If you don't already own this, you owe it to yourself and your kids to buy it.

The ID in the hat 2007-07-24
The Id in the Hat, by Ryan Haynie

Dr. Seuss began his book, "The Cat in the Hat", with a vision: to exterminate illiteracy by creating a children's book so amazing that it would convince children everywhere that reading was "cool". If he could encourage young readers to start reading independently in their early years it would have a drastic effect on their overall literacy and desire to continue to enjoy literature later in life. His goal was noble, but he didn't account for the psychoanalytical underpinnings. The Freudian structural model explains that we all have three parts of our personality: the id, the ego and the superego. All children are born with the id: the impulsive, driving desire to feel pleasure. This is juxtaposed with the superego, or the societal morals and norms that limit behavior. The ego is left with the task to satisfy the demands of the other two parties and help keep the individual in a realistic mindset. Freud said that the formative years of a child's life are critical to the development of the ego which would be the motivating force to adopt a not-so-physically-gratifying hobby such as reading. Although Seuss creates a colorful and catchy tome in "The Cat in the Hat", he fails to accomplish his goals with his audience due to a misrepresentation of the Freudian structural model as portrayed through the fish, the Cat, and the children.

The first aspect of Freud's structural model as depicted in "The Cat in the Hat" is the superego, represented through the children's pet fish. The superego is related to one's sense of morality, consisting of his beliefs of acceptable conduct and traits and is often referred to as the conscience. The illustration of the superego through the fish is found on page 11 when the fish responds to the Cat's proposition to lolly-gag the day away in play, saying: "Tell that Cat in the Hat/ You do not want to play./ He should not be here/ He should not be about./ He should not be here when your mother is out!" The fish's disapproval of the carnal desire to "have fun", especially in the absence of parental supervision, is a perfect example of superego influence over the children in the story.

In the next page, Seuss takes the legs out from under his "conscience" by humiliating the fish in the Cat's game, "up, up, up with a fish". As the Cat lifts the fish into the air against his wishes, the fish and, subsequently, his will are disregarded. Although this representation of conflict between id and superego does follow Freud's pattern, the undertone communicated to the audience is that the superego is foolish and "wussy" compared to the impulsive id.

The irony of Seuss' dilemma is apparent: he must encourage small children to develop the habit of reading against their dominating id. In Freud's structural model, the id is the impulse-driven influence that we are born with. Its inherent characteristics include a desire to satiate one's physical desires; an influence based mainly on pleasure and instant gratification. Since reading offers no immediate pleasurable gains, it can easily be over shadowed by the powerful id in young people and result in pursuit of satisfaction in other venues such as binge eating or, in more extreme cases, delinquency. Seuss therefore has the task of satisfying the id while encouraging the ego to overcome any residual cravings.

In the case of the "Cat in the Hat", the Cat would personify (or, rather, in-feline-ify) the id: bent on having "fun" no matter the circumstances. This is apparent on page 7, where he states "I know it is wet/ And the sun is not sunny./ But we can have/ Lots of good fun that is funny!" This shows the impulsive desire for "fun" despite the sodden roadblock of a rainy day. The problem with the representation made by Seuss comes in the resolution of the conflict. As the house has been devastated by the gallivanting of the Cat, the children face the dilemma of social conflict in the form of parental discipline for having let id-dominated impulses overcome superego guidelines. Seuss overcomes this obstacle in an irrational, id-driven, fanciful, manner: through what I like to call the "Cat-in-the-Hat-traption". Riding a mysterious janitorial golf cart, the Cat in the Hat instantaneously amends the problem by magically eliminating the mess. This solution lends to the reader's mind a painless solution, or, in other words, a lack of consequences for the indulgence in id-inspired desires. Without the consequences to aid in the development of the ego, children will undoubtedly opt for the paths of least resistance in acquiring their personal pleasures, such as theft or murder, without a concrete understanding of the relationship between real-life "choice and consequence" scenarios. Seuss' solution to the problem completely destroys the Freudian model of an ego that successfully satisfies both id and superego in order to develop personality traits such as a love for reading.

The children's lack of action in "The Cat in the Hat" also misrepresents the function of the Freudian structural model. Seuss presents the children, Sally and the narrator, "I", at the beginning of the book as the main characters with a dilemma of childhood, rainy-day lethargy. As they are placed in the middle of an external struggle, Seuss successfully represents the plight of the ego through them. The ego is the reality-driven aspect of personality, burdened with the task of satisfying the demands of both id and superego while finding plausible, real-life solutions to problems. Seuss, however, gives the impression that the children are afflicted with indecisiveness. This implies to his audience of little people that personality development is hard. This is demonstrated through the lack of action of the children throughout the great majority of the book. They are portrayed as passive observers of the conflict between Cat and fish the first 82% of this book, and ultimately take no action when interrogated by their authority figure as to their most recent dealings. On the final page, we see further encouragement for the same type of apathy in the questions posed by the narrator: "Should we tell her about it?/ Now, what should we do?/ Well.../ What would you do/ If your mother asked you?" This message communicates to the audience a weak ego. With a weak ego, the entire structural model is thrown out of balance, rendering impossible the healthy development of a realistic personality. As the audience is made up of almost entirely ego-developing youngsters, this puts subconscious blocks on their normal development of personality and would encourage them to embrace drugs, sex, money, and foods high in trans fat instead of taking up reading as a healthy past-time

When Dr. Seuss embarked on his literacy-promoting campaign, he was faced by the daunting task of encouraging id-driven little ones to embrace a not-so-satisfying use of time. His attempt at inspiring the young tots to live a life in literature is noble, but poorly executed. Sure, he's sold millions of copies and entertained youthful readers for generations, but parents: beware! Though Seuss attempts to encourage little readers through a simple and colorful rhyme of a lid-donning feline, the subconscious psychological underpinnings might very well have the reverse effect on his audience for a lifetime.