Conversations on The Cat in the Hat/The Lorax

I grew up reading all of the Dr. Seuss books, but for this assignment I had to go back and read it again. I had never read it from a literary standpoint, trying to determine the book's theme or main idea, so I checked it out from the local public library. While reading the book, I noticed that there is an interplay of sense and nonsense, with the cat usually talking Sally and her brother into allowing him to play some sort of "game." Sally and her brother, the narrator, represent logic and common sense while the cat in the hat represents silliness. He is always trying to talk the children into doing something, and when they give him an inch, he takes a mile. Another book that I read as I was growing up was If You Give a Mouse a Cookie by Laura Joffe Numeroff. It seems to have some of the same tensions presented in The Cat in the Hat. The main character in the book, a mouse, is wanting a chocolate chip cookie, but when the child gives him a cookie, the mouse wants a glass of milk. Then he'll want a straw to drink with, and so on and so on. When the child gives the mouse an inch, he keeps wanting more and more and more, which is exactly like the cat in the hat. The book also has a lot of nonsense and silliness in it, just like The Cat in the Hat. Readers are always wondering what the mouse is going to ask for next or what the cat is going to do next, when reading the book. I think it is this aspect that makes both books appeal to children: the sense of playfulness and silliness that keeps children guessing.

With The Lorax, Dr. Seuss considered this book his best. However, it did not go over well at

the time because of its didactic portrayal of environmental and ecological issues (trying to teach some kind of moral/political message). The Lorax is considered didactic because it clearly teaches its readers the consequences of taking advantage of the environment. Even though The Lorax was written many decades ago, there are still didactic children's books being published today. Some examples are Fibbed Big by Berkeley Breathed and Have You Filled a Bucket Today? by Carol McCloud. Both of these books are meant to teach a lesson to children in addition to entertain them.