The Cat in the Hat turns 50

50 years ago today Theodore Seuss Geisel wrote one of the all time favorite children’s books.

Seuss was contacted by Houghton Mifflin because the current Dick and Jane books being used by schools were doing a poor job of educating and prompting children to read because they were…
Boring.
In a 1954 Life magazine article by the writer John Hersey the question was asked: Why can't Johnny read? Hersey concluded that the "Dick and Jane" readers that most schools used were just too boring. Hersey suggested that Dr. Seuss write a new reading primer for the nation's schoolchildren.
The editors of Houghton Mifflin sent Dr. Seuss a 200-word vocabulary list for 6 and 7 year olds. Dr. Seuss agreed to take on the task and figured that he would knock it out in a few days.
It took him a year and a half.
He read through the list and on the third try decided to find two words that rhymed and to make that his title. The two words were “cat” and “hat”.

236 words later we have one of the most timeless children’s classics to ever be created. It is a book that drove millions to read.

However, the book was never used in public schools because the school systems found it to be too “subversive”.

The cat in the hat was TOO SUBVERSIVE??????

That’s crazy as can be.
I do not agree with that
And that does not agree with me

Now, as Paul Harvey says, you know the rest of the story.