In this issue:
- Lessons from The Cat in the Hat
Introduction
Dr. Seuss created The Cat in the Hat originally to replace the “Dick and Jane” readers that were being used in the schools in the 1950’s. The Cat in the Hat has since become a children’s classic. What contributed to its success and what can we learn from it?
The Challenge
The book contains only words that are understandable to a young child. Indeed, Dr. Seuss's publisher supplied him with a sight vocabulary of 223 words commonly used in school readers, and requested him to utilize just these words in writing the book. Dr. Seuss thought that he could do so in a snap. Instead, it took him about a year to figure it out, using a tiny vocabulary and strict triple meter throughout the book.1
Lesson #1: We think that if we can’t solve a problem quickly, we’ll never be able to solve it. The truth, however, is that - if we give ourselves time to think - the creative juices start to flow and we will ultimately resolve the issues.
Lesson #2: Limitations are not necessarily counter-productive. In fact, they present an opportunity to use our problem-solving abilities to their fullest.
Lesson #3: Effective communication requires taking the audience into account. So communicate in a language that is appropriate for the age of your listener. Here are some guidelines, based on characters from the book:
- If you’re speaking to a young child, be a “fish”; i.e., be brief and direct.
- Become a funny “cat” for a school-age child, using lots of humor and stories.
- Try being a “Thing” for the teenager – silent and action-oriented.
The Outcome
Notably, The Cat in the Hat was never accepted as an educational tool; maybe the Cat was too subversive. But it remained a linchpin for quality time in many homes then and now. Adults who grew up with it are now using it for their own children.
Lesson #4: The experiences of our childhood remain with us forever. We can use the good and discard the bad. Taking the time to recreate those special moments from our youth and transmitting them to our children benefits us and the next generation.
Lesson #5: Schools don’t always know what’s best. They often do what they’ve done in the past because doing so is easy, and necessitates little effort or expense. Parents are their children’s primary teachers and the home is where a child learns the most important lessons of life. Be creative; communicate your values in a positive and consistent manner.
Lesson #6: We can’t ignore the Cat. He represents the mischievous, limit-testing part of a child’s personality. Don’t squash that character. Allow it the freedom to experiment. How? By giving your child the time and space to play. Don’t over-structure and don’t overuse technology, both of which diminish fantasy and creativity.
Lesson #7: Failures and disappointments are opportunities for coping and learning. A “rainy day” may initially trigger a tantrum from your children. But if you ignore the moping (just as the mother “leaves the house” in the book) and focus on your agenda, your children will manage. So when your child is bored, don’t jump in with solutions such as trips or a new computer game. Dealing with frustration is a key ingredient to gaining maturity.
Lesson #8: All children need responsibility. Knowing that they will be held accountable for their actions motivates them to focus on themselves and what they can do to solve their problems. They develop competence and an innate sense of importance when they can live up to adult expectations.
Lesson #9: Don’t ask children the types of questions that will induce them to lie. Young children need enough supervision for you to know what they’re doing. As they get older, wean your children from supervision in gradual steps. If you do so, hopefully by the time they reach adolescence you will be able to trust them to be alone and unsupervised, with just a modicum of guidance.
Lesson #10: Adolescents are responsible for their rooms and their school work. If either becomes a problem, keep it in perspective and communicate using Dr. Seuss’s methods of talking. Here is an example of one parent’s comment on a teenager’s room:
Before you drive around, look around.
Do you like what you see? How can it be?
Maybe you’ve had visitors, like Thing 1 and Thing 2
Who messed everything up and you didn’t know what to do.
“Hurry! Hurry! Your Mother is coming home!
Call that Cat in the Hat on your telephone.”
“Tell him that he’d better move fast –
To clean your room first, and not last.”
Did her teenager clean the room? Well, what would your teenager do?
1 According to Wikipedia, the story is “1626 words in length and uses a vocabulary of only 236 unique words, of which 54 occur exactly once and 33 twice. Only a single word – another – has three syllables, while 14 have two and the remaining 221 are monosyllabic. The longest words are something and playthings.”
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