The Cat in the Hat circumstances" which is soon enhanced by make believe. The book starts in a factual, realistic world, which crosses over into the world of make believe with the loud bump that heralds the arrival of the Cat. However, this is the first Dr. Seuss book in which the fantasy characters, i.e. the Cat and his companions, are not products of the children's imagination. It also differs from previous books in that Sally and her brother actively participate in the fantasy world; they also have a changed opinion of the Cat and his world by the story's end. Ruth MacDonald asserts, ""The
The Cat in the Hat "small, stooped woman wearing 'a leather half-glove and a secret smile'". Anita Silvey, recounting a similar story, described the woman as "a very elegant, very petite African-American woman named Annie Williams". Geisel told Silvey that, when he sketched the Cat in the Hat, he thought of Williams and gave the character Williams' white gloves and "sly, even foxy smile". Geisel gave two conflicting, partly fictionalized accounts of the book's creation in two articles, "How Orlo Got His Book" in "The New York Times Book Review" and "My Hassle with the First Grade Language" in the "Chicago Tribune", both published on