MOMENTUM FOR NOVEMBER 21ST RELEASE OF
THE UNIVERSAL PICTURES/DREAMWORKS PICTURES/IMAGINE ENTERTAINMENT
FILM ADAPTATION OF DR. SEUSS’ THE CAT IN THE HAT
PROPELS THE BOOK ONTO THE NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER
LIST
Published in 1957, The Cat in the Hat Revolutionized
The Way Children in America Learned To Read
New York, NY (November 19, 2003)—Dr. Seuss’
beloved 1957 classic The Cat in the Hat will hit the
New York Times Bestseller List on November 23rd for
the first time in decades, it was announced today by
Random House Children’s Books, the exclusive publisher
of Dr. Seuss books. The powerful marketing and publicity
campaign behind the Universal Pictures/DreamWorks Pictures/Imagine
Entertainment production of Dr. Seuss’ The Cat
in the Hat has dramatically increased demand for the
classic book, driving it to the #2 spot on the New York
Times Children’s Bestseller List.
“On the eve of the celebration of Ted Geisel’s
100th birthday, I couldn’t think of a more fitting
tribute,” commented Kate Klimo, vice president
and publisher of the Random House/Golden Books Young
Readers Group, a division of Random House Children’s
Books. “After all, it was with this book that
Ted changed forever the way children learn to read,
and it is gratifying to see it in the position of prominence
it truly deserves.”
Ted Geisel wrote The Cat in the Hat in response to
John Hersey’s 1954 article entitled “Why
Do Students Bog Down on the First R?” published
in Life magazine. Hersey was outraged with the current
primers, calling them “antiseptic,” claiming
that children’s books were boring and could not
compete with cartoons, comics, and other more fun and
interesting stimuli. He called for illustrations “that
widen rather than narrow the associative richness the
children give to words,” and concluded that the
work of artists like Geisel and Walt Disney would be
more appropriate.
Geisel took the challenge and, using a list of 225
words that first graders needed to learn to read, created
The Cat in the Hat. The book was an instant bestseller
and catapulted him from pioneer in children’s
literature to definitive children’s book author
illustrator—the man who changed the way children
in America learn how to read. There are now more than
8.5 million copies of The Cat in the Hat in print. Geisel
wrote and illustrated 44 books for children during his
lifetime, many of which are among the bestselling children’s
books of all time.
Starring Mike Myers in the title role, the highly anticipated
film from Academy Awardâ winning producer Brian
Grazer and director Bo Welch, also stars Alec Baldwin,
Kelly Preston, Dakota Fanning, Spencer Breslin, and
Sean Hayes. Random House has published 11 new titles
based on the film including The Cat in the Hat Movie
Storybook featuring full-color photos from the film,
the first ever Dr. Seuss’ The Cat in the Hat:
A Little Golden Book, a junior novelization and more.
Dr. Seuss’ The Cat in the Hat has been rated
PG (Parental Guidance Suggested - Some Material May
Not Be Suitable For Children ) for mild crude humor
and some double entendres.
Universal Pictures is a division of Vivendi UNIVERSAL
Entertainment (VUE) (www.universalstudios.com), the
U.S.-based film, television and recreation entity of
Vivendi Universal, a global media and communications
company.
2004 marks the centennial of Ted Geisel’s birth,
and Random House Children’s Books will join Dr.
Seuss Enterprises in a yearlong tribute to the man known
and loved by generations of Americans as Dr. Seuss.
For complete information on the events and activities
comprising “Seussentennial: A Century of Imagination”
log onto www.seussentennial.com.
Random House Children’s Books is the largest
English language children’s trade book publisher.
Producing books for preschool children through young
adult readers, in all formats from board books to activity
books to picture books and novels, Random House Children’s
Books brings together world-famous franchise characters,
multimillion-copy series, and top-flight, award-winning
authors and illustrators. Random House is the host of
www.seussville.com, Dr. Seuss’s official home
on the internet.
***
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