Taking a Closer Look at "The Cat in the Hat" by Dr. Seuss

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When my kids were young and learning to read, I had the great pleasure of introducing them to some of the wonderful books of my youth. One of those books was The Cat in the Hat by the legendary Dr. Seuss, and the book, written in 1957, is still popular today.

If you also grew up in the 60’s and 70’s, I am guessing you know the story well – this rather large cat (in a red and white striped hat) shows up one rainy day at the house of two children who are at home alone. “The Cat” juggles furniture, invites some of his friends to join the fun, and then, just before the kids’ mother comes home, he cleans up the mess and then sneaks out the back door.

The story is told in playful, up-tempo rhymes and I always remembered it as a fun, imaginative tale with unpredictable twists and turns. It was exactly the kind of story that I think all kids would enjoy as they learned to read.

I am a grandparent now, and in going through the piles of memorabilia in our storage room the other day, I found the book and set it aside, thinking it might be fun to read it to my grandkids -- what a great tradition that would be!

However, the world has changed dramatically since I read it to my boys 25 years ago. Or perhaps I might have changed, because I no longer see The Cat in the Hat as a playful story. Instead, I now see that it promotes parental irresponsibility, suggestive criminal behavior, and a willful disrespect for property.

Let me explain…

The book begins with the two kids at home…alone.

This is the first red flag. These days, leaving two very young kids at home alone all day without any adult supervision borders on abandonment. We all know that our kids and grandkids need our constant, 24-hour attention, and I can’t imagine a world in which they might be left alone for a few hours.

Secondly, why aren’t these kids in school?

Staring out the window is no way to expand their minds. The next thing you know, they’ll be spending all their free time on TikTok, or worse, watching congressional hearings on C-Span.

Thirdly, and this really scares me -- is this human-like “Cat” really a cat?

He is supposed to be a cat, but he is as big as an adult. If you ask me, he is more cat burglar than cat.

You may ask, am I overreacting? Perhaps, but think about it… when “The Cat” enters the house, he does so with a loud BANG, suggesting that he probably kicked down the door. AND he shows up out of nowhere. He was not invited. These kids do not know him. So far as I can tell, there is also no scheduled playdate.

What is even more astonishing, “The Cat” tells the kids that their mother approves of him being there. Hmmm… I doubt it. And when the only significant resistance comes from a talking fish in a fishbowl, “The Cat” blows him off.

(Let this be a warning to parents who think is it okay to use fish as baby-sitters.)

The Cat clearly gets comfortable very fast, probably because there are no parents around – and, right after juggling the furniture (along with the fishbowl with the fish in it), he invites in two of his buddies, “Thing One and Thing Two,” who can only be described as two rodents with A.D.D.

With “The Cat,” the hyperactive rodents, and now the kids joining the fun, the trashing of the house continues. Like me, any parent and grandparent reading this will no doubt recognize the risks of allowing so much unstructured time in kids’ lives.

Finally, just as the mom (or as I refer to her, “Ms. I have no problem leaving the kids at home alone all day”) comes home, “The Cat,” with his quick criminal mind, realizes he needs to clean up the house and remove all evidence. He disappears and astonishingly returns with some sort of a Zamboni he probably stole from the local ice arena, which he then uses to cover his tracks before sneaking out the back door and disappearing altogether.

At this point, I don’t know what gets into mom, but she finally checks in and asks the kids about their day. They lie — but she does not ask them for any details! NOR does she show any curiosity about why the house is now so clean! (No kid in the history of kids has ever cleaned the house of their own accord.)

The story ends with the mom having no clue how close Mr. “Criminal Dressed Up Like a Cat” and the over stimulated Things 1 and 2 came to looting and destroying their home.

Parents and grandparents, I share this so that you do not make the same mistake I made 25 years ago. Do not read this book to your kids and grandkids. Back in 1957, it might have been more acceptable to leave kids home alone with no supervision (which also explains a lot about Boomers).

Though this may be a tough pill to swallow, I know you will appreciate my efforts to set the record straight.

(Next time I’ll explain my thinking about another Seuss book, The Cat in the Hat COMES BACK, where I explore the disturbing possibility that the “Cat in the Hat” was also a stalker.)