Author's Cat Hits 50

Fifty years ago, two young children sat staring out the window. Suddenly, they looked, and they saw him step in on the mat. They looked at they saw him, the cat in the hat. And he said to them, "Why do you sit there like that?"

During the days of Dick and Jane, that's exactly what teachers were asking. Children were bored with their standard reading primers. Ted Geisel, better known as Dr. Seuss, took up the challenge to write a primer that could actually entertain children while sticking to the vocabulary word list devised by Houghton Mifflin. Instantly, Seuss became a rock star and childrens' books have never been the same.

A 50th Anniversary edition of The Cat in The Hat has been published. Every book sold between now and May 1 comes with a postcard; for each postcard mailed in, the publisher will donate a copy to First Book, a charity that donates books to children in low-income families. Thing One and Thing Two, meet Book One and Book Two.

Can't find that old copy from your childhood? You know you'd enjoy reading it again. Now's the time to buy a new copy -- and help a needy child at the same time.