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first edition

Theodor Seuss Geisel

The Cat in the Hat

Random House

1957

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Description

First edition of this subversive update to Dick and Jane, based upon the idea that kids would get more excited about reading if they enjoyed the material – one of a small group with jackets lacking a printed price, issued between the transition from the "200/200" of the first state and the "195/195" of the second.

  • Dr. Seuss [Theodor Seuss Geisel](American).
  • New York: Random House, (1957).
  • 61, [1] pages.
  • Bound in original flat paper over boards (not glazed paper), with original dust jacket with no printed price (ref. Younger, Younger, Hirsch).


"[First graders] still want to laugh at something that's ridiculous." – Dr. Seuss

Challenged to create a reader for young children using only 220 different words, Seuss tricked kids into enjoying learning with his destructive and charismatic house guest. Inspired in part by Krazy Kat and Felix the Cat, but with a wily mind all his own, the Cat in the Hat's humor and naughtiness are engaged in the noble cause of literacy. "Parents," notes biographer Brian Jay Jones, "were more than happy to join Dr. Seuss as fellow revolutionaries. Even if parents didn't necessarily understand the pedagogy, it was easy to see the difference between the staid DICK AND JANE and the rambunctious Cat in the Hat: kids wanted to read about the antics of the cat, just as Geisel had hoped." The first book featuring the American icon, this copy comes directly from the stock of Aleph-Bet Books, the firm of Seuss bibliographers Helen Younger and Marc Younger. Younger, Younger, & Hirsch, First Editions of Dr. Seuss Books: A Guide to Identification; Jones, Becoming Dr. Seuss.

Condition Report

Revive
Fair
Good
Star iconVery Good
Like New

Ownership inscription dated June 1957 (the book was first issued in March 1957).

Book with light soiling at edges, tiny bit of bumping.

Jacket with tape repairs to verso, light soiling to rear panel, shallow edgewear.

Dimensions

Height: 9 inches / 22.86 cm
Width: 6.5 inches / 16.51 cm

Feature(s)

First Edition, Dust Jacket

Language

English

Subject

Modern first editions, Childrens, Illustrated

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