The Cat in the Hat Cat in the Hat" is the book that made Dr. Seuss famous. Without "The Cat", Seuss would have remained a minor light in the history of children's literature." Donald Pease concurs, writing, ""The Cat in the Hat" is the classic in the archive of Dr. Seuss stories for which it serves as a cornerstone and a linchpin. Before writing it Geisel was better known for the 'Quick, Henry, the Flit!' ad campaign than for his nine children's books." The publication and popularity of the book thrust Geisel into the center of the United States literacy debate, what Pease called "the
The Cat in the Hat there were a lot of Dick and Jane devotees, and my book was considered too fresh and irreverent. But Bennett Cerf at Random House had asked for trade rights, and it just took off in the bookstores." Geisel told the Morgans, "Parents understood better than school people the necessity for this kind of reader." After three years in print, "The Cat in the Hat" had sold nearly one million copies. By then, the book had been translated into French, Chinese, Swedish, and Braille. In 2001, "Publishers Weekly" placed it at number nine on its list of the best-selling children's books