The Cat in the Hat Turns 50!

Happy 50^th Birthday Cat in the Hat! That's right, Dr. Seuss's most loveable storybook is turning 50, and to celebrate this milestone, Random House, Dr. Seuss Enterprises, and First Book have partnered to create a national literacy campaign known as Project 236.

This project is the only way this book's birthday should be celebrated, since the idea of it was spawned from 236 words to promote literacy in children. In the mid 1950s more and more children were falling by the wayside in terms of reading. More and more parents kept asking themselves; "Why can't my child read"? The answer was pretty simple as described by Pulitzer Prize-winning author John Hersey.

He maintained that the only reason children could not read was because they didn't want to. Their schoolbooks were boring and could not hold a candle to cartoons and other more entertaining activities. John Hersey then challenged the now beloved author Dr. Suess to write a story that first graders could not put down. Dr. Suess responded with his 236-word storybook published in 1957 by Random House titled The Cat in the Hat.

Project 236 is focused on making reading fun for children, and most importantly making sure that children have access to all the books they would ever want to read. This will no doubt be a tremendous task. A recent study found that middle-income families have or have access to 13 books per child were low-income families have 1 book for every 300 children.

This year for The Cat in the Hat's birthday it is up to all of us to give the gift of reading to children all over the world again as Dr. Suess did for children in 1957. What can you do to help out Project 236?

Helping The Cat in the Hat promote reading is as easy as sending him a birthday card from Suessville. One book will be donated to First Book for every free card you send, so send more than one if you can.

You can also visit firstbook.com to make a monetary donation so that more books can be purchased and donated to kids in need.

More free and easy ways to help out include simply reading to your children as often as you can. Be a role model, good habits always start at home.

Volunteer to read to children at your local library.