When Mom's Away

The Cat In The Hat
By: Dr. Suess

This book is another in the series of
I Can Read It All By Myself books.

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THE STORY:
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As the story opens, you can see two children looking out the window of their house. It was to wet to play, so they had to sit in that house all that cold. we day.

They sat there all day and wished that they had something to do. It was to wet and to cold to go out and play ball. All they could do was sit in their house and do nothing at all.

All those tow kids could do all day long was sit! sit! sit! And just like my children, they did not like it one little bit. Then it happened and then he came, just as they could take no more, guess who would show up at their very door? It was The Cat in the Hat, that's who!

He came in announcing that he knew some games that they could play. He said that he had tricks and he said I will show them to you! He assured them that your mother will not if I do.

But, their fish, he knew better--He said No! No! He told them to make the Cat go away. He assured them that it would only be trouble if that Cat stayed to play. He tried to explain that others should not be around and not be about. Not ever, no never when mother was out!

But that Cat would not go away and convinced those two kids that it was okay to play. The cat then started the famous balancing act. He had a cup and a cake on top of his hat. He can hold up two books, and hold up that fish. Oh, look a toy ship and some milk on a dish. He could do all of this while bouncing on a ball. But look, oh look---That is not all.

Now look what he added, the fish is now on a rake. He is holding a toy ship and little toy man. My gosh with his tail he is holding a toy fan. But, still there was more and that was not all.

Oh no, look what is happening to that Cat on a ball. He came down with a bump and all those things began to fall. Now, the children began to look and the damage they saw. The toy ship imbedded deep in the cake and oh no look at that, he bent our new rake. The fish tried to tell him and tell him again. You Cat should not be here when mother is not here.

The Cat in the Hat, he just would not go. He wanted to show another great game that he would know. The Cat left the house for a minute or two and as fast as a fox. The he came back with a big red box.

Mow it was all about to start the new game that would be called Fun in a Box. Soon they would open the hook on that box and out would come running two things that were new. More trouble, I am sure--from Thing one and Thing two.

Once again the smart fish he began to shout. You must get those Things Out, Out, Out!!!

The Cat in the Hat assured them that the things were tame. All they wanted to do was to play on this wet, wet day. Yes, trouble was coming, it came right down the hall when those Things played with kites and knocked things off of the wall. Things continued to tumble and continued to fall with all the bumps, jumps, and kicks. Those darn Things just would not quit doing all those really bad tricks. The fish kept warning the children not to play. You cannot play this way when your mother is away.

Then the fish began to shout and began to say with much fear. Your mother is home--Do You Hear? Do You Hear? They had to think fast and they had to be quick. So as fast as they could they went after a net that would get rid of those pests they, bet.

With Thing One and Thing Two tucked away in the box. The kids looked around at the mess big and tall. There would be now way to clean it, just no way at all.

And then before they knew what was happening and as quick as a mouse. That nasty old Cat was back in the house. He wanted to show them a new trick that he knew. They would clean up that mess and before they knew it they were trough.

Soon it was time and mom walked through the door and looked at us two. Then came the question: What do you do? We looked at each other and thought, What to Do? What would you do if your mother asked you?

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BRANDON'S VIEW:
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Brandon just loved this book. He thought all the rhymes were so much fun. It was very easy for him to read and he really enjoyed that. Brandon is my special needs child who can sometimes have trouble with reading, but he caught on to this book real quick. I am sure some of it was memorization--but even that is a start.

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CLAYTON'S VIEW:
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Clayton also found this book quite interesting. He went past the coolness of all the rhyming words and right to the story. We talked about all the times that he and his brothers and sisters had done things while their dad and I were away. We were able to talk about the many times they were caught on the edge and about what his answer to the What to do? question would be. We decided that it would always be better to tell the truth.

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FINAL VIEW:
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The Cat in the Hat would defiantly be a book that I would recommend adding to your child's collection. It is such a fun book to read making great use of rhyme. The illustrations throughout the book were simple, but cute. My younger children were able to follow the story quite well through them. The reading was quite easy for both of my second grade boys. Even my daughter, Megan, (who is in kindergarten) was able to read some of the pages.