The Cat in the Hat Movie Storybook

Based on the The Cat in the Hat movie (which is based on the original Dr. Seuss picture book, The Cat in the Hat), this movie storybook is not so much watered down from the Seuss classic as hopped up. Scenes from the movie reveal that the bored little rainy-day girl is Sally Walden--a PDA-wielding tattletale. Her brother Conrad is a troublemaker with a Game Boy, bound for military school if sleazy next-door-neighbor (and beau of Mrs. Walden) Mr. Quinn has his way. Mrs. Walden is a real estate agent with an important party coming up--can she trust her kids not to mess up the house before the guests arrive? You know the story from here. The Cat in the Hat arrives, trashes the house, and almost escapes before returning with a fabulous cleaning machine (here called the Dynamic Industrial Renovating Tractormajigger…a.k.a. D.I.R.T.).

It’s hard to say what the venerable Dr. Seuss would have thought of the transformation his original book underwent to become a movie (and storybook) for the new millennium. On the one hand, he’d probably love the retro looking machines (the Kupkake-inator is a personal favorite), and he might even appreciate the psychedelic state of the Walden house once Thing One and Thing Two are through with it. But the Quinn subplot and creepy looking Cat are another thing (so to speak) altogether. Regardless, children who love the movie will want to read the book--and that’s a good thing. They may even be inspired to dig out the half-century-old classic, as well. (Ages 5 to 8) --Emilie Coulter