The Cat in the Hat Heloise P. Mailloux wrote in "The Horn Book Magazine", "This is a fine book for remedial purposes, but self-conscious children often refuse material if its seems meant for younger children." She felt that the book's limited vocabulary kept it from reaching "the absurd excellence of early Seuss books". Based on a 2007 online poll, the National Education Association named "The Cat in the Hat" one of its "Teachers' Top 100 Books for Children". In 2012 it was ranked number 36 among the "Top 100 Picture Books" in a survey published by "School Library Journal" – the third of five Dr.
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