How the Grinch Stole Christmas! it one of its "Teachers' Top 100 Books for Children". In 2012, it was ranked number 61 among the "Top 100 Picture Books" in a survey published by "School Library Journal" – the fourth of five Dr. Seuss books on the list. The book has been adapted as a 1966 animated TV film starring Boris Karloff, a 2000 live-action feature film starring Jim Carrey, and a 2018 computer-animated film starring Benedict Cumberbatch. The Grinch is a bitter, grouchy, cave-dwelling creature with a heart "two sizes too small" who is living as a hermit on the snowy Mount Crumpit, a steep
How the Grinch Stole Christmas! (TV special) and has rightfully become a yuletide tradition of its own." The special continues to be popular in Nielsen Ratings, with its 2010 airing (the last of many times it had aired that year) winning its time slot among persons 18 to 49 and finishing second in overall viewers. "TV Guide" ranked the special No. 1 on its 10 Best Family Holiday Specials list. "How the Grinch Stole Christmas!" was released to VHS, Betamax, CED, and LaserDisc by MGM/UA Home Video in the 1980s, and was reissued several times. The special was first released to the VHS and DVD formats in