Palm Beach Post Staff Writer
On Thursday, The Cat in the Hat turns 50.
On Friday, its late, beloved author, Dr. Seuss, would have turned 103.
And on Thursday and Friday, children will turn the book's pages to honor both birthdays, as libraries throughout Palm Beach County host special parties to celebrate the short book with the long life.
The events are also part of a national celebration, sponsored by the National Education Association's Read Across America literacy campaign, aimed at having as many youngsters as possible read The Cat in the Hat on Dr. Seuss's birthday.
"The Cat in the Hat has lasted because for preschoolers it's fun and learning at the same time," said Samantha Crawford, the assistant children's librarian at The Four Arts Children's Library in Palm Beach. "It's a whole different world to children, and a whole set of characters who are new and real to them."
On Thursday, "Miss Sam" will trade her usual work clothes for a full-body Cat-in-the-Hat suit when she greets children for the weekly story hour. After hearing the book, they'll be led into a playroom that's been transformed into "Seussville" for games, face-painting and crafts inspired by Dr. Seuss's books - including, of course, green deviled eggs.
And all children are welcome.
Because it's affiliated with The Society of the Four Arts, which charges a membership fee, outsiders often assume the children's library is also a private endeavor. Not so. All children 18 or under are welcome to borrow books anytime, and they needn't live in Palm Beach or even Palm Beach County.
"We're a hidden jewel," said children's librarian Susan Harris.
At the West Palm Beach Public Library, the celebration begins at exactly 3:30 Friday afternoon, when three different volunteers will read The Cat in the Hat simultaneously in the library's adult, teen and children's areas. The point, said youth services librarian Lisa Webb, is to honor The Cat in the Hat as a book that transcends the generations.
"My mother just celebrated her 50th birthday," said Webb. "And she still has a copy of this book that was given to her when she was just beginning to learn to read, and I remember listening to my mom reading me this book for the very first time at 4 years old."
Not bad for a mere 236 words.
Theodor Seuss Geisel - born March 2, 1904 - was already a successful, 50-year-old cartoonist in May 1954, when Life magazine published an article by Pulitzer prize-winning journalist John Hersey called, Why Do Students Bog Down On The First R? Because, Hersey concluded, children's books are boring, and so are the illustrations.
Geisel's publisher, Random House, sent him a list of 400 words important for children to learn and asked Geisel to pare the list to 250 and use them in an entertaining book.
He needed only 236 to write a classic.
"Beginning readers and parents who have been helping them through the dreary activities of Dick and Jane and other primer characters are due for a happy surprise," said The New York Times Book Review.
Published on March 1, 1957, The Cat in the Hat sold for $2. And sold, and sold. And it still does, along with 43 other books by "Dr. Seuss."
Geisel died at 87 on Sept. 24, 1991, but in 2003, Forbes magazine rated him number six on its list of "Top-Earning Dead Celebrities" at $16 million, just behind former Beatles John Lennon and George Harrison.
"People have tried to copy him," said Miss Sam of the Four Arts Children's Library. "But they can't."
People have tried to stump him, too.
In 1960, Random House publisher Bennett Cerf bet Geisel $50 he couldn't write another book using only 50 words.
Ever heard of Green Eggs and Ham?
Reference:palmbeachpost
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