Two children sitting at home on a rainy day are visited by the Cat in the Hat who shows them some tricks and games.

Two children sitting at home on a rainy day meet the cat in the hat who shows them some tricks and games.

Racism is resilient, duplicitous, and endlessly adaptable, so it is no surprise that America is again in a period of civil rights activism. A significant reason racism endures is because it is structural: it's embedded in culture and in institutions. One of the places that racism hides-and thus perhaps the best place to oppose it-is books for young people. Was the Cat in the Hat Black? presents five serious critiques of the history and current state of children's literature tempestuous relationship with both implicit and explicit forms of racism. The book fearlessly examines topics both vivid-such as The Cat in the Hat's roots in blackface minstrelsy-and more opaque, like how the children's book industry can perpetuate structural racism via whitewashed covers even while making efforts to increase diversity. Rooted in research yet written with a lively, crackling touch, Nel delves into years of literary criticism and recent sociological data in order to show a better way forward. Though much of what is proposed here could be endlessly argued, the knowledge that what we learn in childhood imparts both subtle and explicit lessons about whose lives matter is not debatable. The text concludes with a short and stark proposal of actions everyone-reader, author, publisher, scholar, citizen- can take to fight the biases and prejudices that infect children's literature. While Was the Cat in the Hat Black? does not assume it has all the answers to such a deeply systemic problem, its audacity should stimulate discussion and activism.

The Cat in the Hat and his alphabetical children cause a lot of mischief until little cat Z cleans up the mess.

Theodor Seuss Geisel, creator of Horton the Elephant, the Grinch, the Cat in the Hat, and a madcap menagerie of the best-loved children’s characters of all time, stands alone as the preeminent figure of children’s literature. But Geisel was a private man who was happier at the drawing table than he was across from any reporter or would-be biographer. Under the thoughtful scrutiny of Charles D. Cohen, Geisel’s lesser known works yield valuable insights into the imaginative and creative processes of one of the 20th century’s most original thinkers.

A Seussian celebration of simple math concepts--perfect for the 100th Day of School and fans of The Cat in the Hat! The Cat in the Hat spends the 100th Day of School visiting Sally and Dick's classroom to show how some simple tools--including a hundreds chart, ten frame, number line, and 100 silly hats--make it easy and fun to count, add, subtract, multiply, and divide. While this is a natural choice for celebrating the 100th Day of School, The 100 Hats of the Cat in the Hat is perfect for anyone, anytime, who wants to nurture a beginning reader's interest in numbers! Fans of the hit PBS show The Cat in the Hat Knows a Lot About That! will be delighted at this new addition to the Learning Library series.

Colorful pictures and sentences explain word meanings.