The Cat in the Hat takes place on a cold, wet day with two kids awaiting their mother's return. Instead of their mother, a strange cat enters the house. He begins balancing a fish bowl on the tip of his umbrella while balancing himself on a beach ball! The two kids and their pet fish worry and worry. But readers around the world laughed and laughed over the Cat and the Hat. Theodore Seuss Geisel, known to fans as Dr. Seuss, wrote the book. It was first published in 1957. Geisel liked to have fun and make people laugh, but he had a serious reason for writing the book. In 1954, a Life magazine article argued that kids couldn't read because the books used to teach them how to read were too boring. John Hersey, the Pulitzer-prize winning author of the article, suggested Geisel write a story that "first graders wouldn't be able to put down". To write the book, Geisel had to have a good knowledge of a beginning reader's word list. Geisel says that he came up with the title by looking for the first two words on the list that rhymed  . And so The Cat in the Hat was born! But it wasn't an easy book to write. It took Geisel one and a half years to complete. To celebrate The Cat in the Hat's birthday, Random House, the book's publisher, created Project 236. The number 236 represents the number of words Geisel used to write the book. As a part of Project 236, there will be a nationwide read-aloud of The Cat in the Hat at 2:36 on March 2, Dr. Seuss's birthday. What is Dr. Seuss's purpose in writing The Cat in the Hat?
To improve children's reading. To support John Hersey. To develop educational system. To make readers laugh.