The Cat in the Hat Comes Back (1958)

The cat in the hat, Dr. Seuss' arguably most well-known character, has never been one of my personal favourites. Rather than being a fun playmate to the children (whose house he happily invades) he makes messes, keeps them from their chores, and seem to actively be an agent of negative chaos. In this book, though, he is slightly redeemed, since through the many messes he causes (and subsequently cleans up) he actually winds up helping the children finish clearing the snow from their walkway. My supposition fro this roundabout story is that the car is nothing but a figment of imagination, dreamed up by the children to make their chores go faster through some ridiculous entertainment. No harm is done to the contents of their house (as seen caused by the cat's actions), so was any of it really real? ( )

The rare exception to the claim that a sequel can't be as great as the original. ( )

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Typical Dr. Seuss fare. It wasn't one of my favourites as a kid, but I liked it okay.