CAT IN THE HAT by SEUSS, DR

SEUSS, DR.. SEUSS,DR. THE CAT IN THE HAT. NY:Random Hse. (1957). 8vo, flat paper over boards (not glazed paper), 61p., slightest of rubbing on edges else fine in sl. frayed dw that is not price clipped but never had a printed price, however it is inscribed by the original owner June 1957 and this title was issued in the Spring of 1957! The original price of this book is the cause of considerable confusion. This first reader was originally published at $2.00. When the publishers decided to make a series of beginning readers, they priced all of them at $1.95 and lowered the price of this title to conform, thus the price of this book went down instead of up as time went by. However there are copies like this one with no printed price at all that were issued after the 200/200 price but before the 195/195 price. They are considered first editions, later issues, Illustrated in bright color throughout. The importance of this book cannot be overstated. In addition to becoming a household name, the Cat In The Hat is extremely important in the history of education and children's literature. At the same time that it was amusing, it was bringing the basic concepts of reading to tens of thousands of little children who were learning without being "taught". It was a marked departure from the boring Dick and Jane type reader. The challenge of writing an entire book using only 220 different words and making the book enjoyable was enormous. Teachers began to use this book in their classrooms and it was not long before the Cat In The Hat became an American icon. First editions of this title are extremely scarce.