The Cat in the Hat Beginner Book Dictionary (I Can Read It All by Myself Beginner Books) [Hardcover]

P D Eastman (Author)

Book Description

Age Level: 5 and up | Grade Level: K and up | Series: I Can Read It All by Myself Beginner Books

A silly book with a serious purpose—to help children recognize, remember, and really enjoy using a basic vocabulary of 1350 words. Written and illustrated by P. D. Eastman—with help from the Cat (Dr. Seuss)—this decades-old dictionary pairs words with pictures that carry their meaning, making it simple enough even for nonreaders to understand. A wacky cast of characters reappears throughout the book, making this perhaps the only dictionary in the world that is actually fun to read!

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

A decades-old dictionary that you can still use today (and know that children will love it) is an amazing testament to the genius of the Seuss stable. The roughly 12-per-page colored drawings are dated, of course--the humans far more than the animals, funnily enough--but they've aged in a way that adds to their charm rather than detracting from it. (Phonograph may take some explaining; ditto typewriter, which we recently heard described as "like a computer, only with paper instead of a screen.") The 1,350 words are well balanced between the obvious stuff--common nouns and verbs--and more abstract language, from about to yet. Each word is accompanied by a drawing and an illustrative sentence. Along the way, naturally, we meet a wacky menagerie of humans and animals: "Aaron the alligator making more machines," "Aunt Ada standing on her head," etc. (Ages 4 to 8) --Richard Farr

From the Inside Flap

Illus. in full color. "The picture carries the meaning in this dictionary of over a thousand elementary words from 'Aaron' the alligator to a nest full of 'zyxuzpf' birds. The book gets a large 'A' for its commonsense-through-nonsense approach to reading." The New York Times.  

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Reading level: Ages 5 and up
  
• Hardcover: 133 pages
• Publisher: Random House Books for Young Readers; 1st Ed/1st Dj. edition (August 12, 1964)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0394810090
• ISBN-13: 978-0394810096
• Product Dimensions: 8.4 x 0.6 x 11.3 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.4 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (19 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #56,169 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #25 in Books > Children's Books > Education & Reference > Dictionaries

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

7 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars My favourite book, November 26, 2005

By 

Paul Morgan (Portland, Oregon) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Cat in the Hat Beginner Book Dictionary (I Can Read It All by Myself Beginner Books) (Hardcover)

This was my absolute favourite book as a wee one. My parents told me I stole the book off my brother even before I was able to read and refused to give it back even as a teenager. I had the English-French Edition. I am ashamed to admit it but my french appears to be limited to what was available in the book some 35 years later despite 4 years of public school French.

I have recently bought every child I know the English-Spanish version. And I found some English-French ones for my nephews in Canada. THis book is worth every penny.

5 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars An excellent tool in language development, colorful and lively with fun characters, December 22, 2005

By 

Sean W. Hawley - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Cat in the Hat Beginner Book Dictionary (I Can Read It All by Myself Beginner Books) (Hardcover)

This Dr. Seuss and P.D. Eastman dictionary was one of my favorite books as a child and it is now a favorite of my two-year-old son. Unlike the static illustrations of many other children's dictionaries, Eastman's colorful drawings are lively and always suggest a story. Sometimes my son and I will read portions of the dictionary straight-through, and other times we will randomly browse the book, discussing various pictures as they catch our eyes. Many of the entries actually tie together into humorous narratives. There are also a number of recurring characters, such as the bad baby who manages to spill his food, spill his drink, draw on the wall, paint on the wall, and float away in a boat, Aaron the Alligator and his unfortunate airplane, and oddballs Aunt Ada and Uncle Uriah. However, the four look-alike boys (Jerry, Joe, Jack, and James) who make their appearances in numerous entries were my personal favorites when I was a kid. Of course, Dr. Seuss injects his usual silliness into the text (e.g., "In our backyard we have a hippopotamus" and "A nest full of zyxuxpf birds" are, likely, his touches), but Eastman's drawings keep the book reasonably well-anchored in the known universe.

As other reviewers have noted, the book's illustrations and text have generally aged well, though some of the references may perplex young readers: home movie projectors, milkmen, phonographs, typewriters, and popguns. Also, there are references to "American Indians" and "Eskimos" that no longer sit with us as well they once did. Finally, some potential buyers might be misled by the title, as the Cat in the Hat character does not actually appear anywhere within the book. Rather, the illustrations are entirely from the hand of P.D. Eastman.

A fine gift for a toddler or preschooler, this big book is fun to explore and is an excellent tool in language development. No preschool or kindergarten class should be without a copy or two of this classic.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The "Politically Correct" Version, August 12, 2008

By 

rkass (Boston, MA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Cat in the Hat Beginner Book Dictionary (I Can Read It All by Myself Beginner Books) (Hardcover)

In any format this is a great book, but it's not the one I had as a kid. I do have an older edition for comparison, and it's fun to guess which of the politically questionable pictures have been replaced in this slightly revised version. No more Native American or Eskimos caricatures, weapons or fighting. Christmas changed to Hanukkah for the "Holiday" entry. Now that I have a young daughter I can appreciate the reasons for these changes, but it's nice to have the "classic" for nostalgia reasons.