To my bewilderment and delight, my toddler has of late been completely taken by the classic The Cat in the Hat.
The book, if you’ve never had the pleasure, is extremely silly and also a complete roller coaster to read aloud.
Some children’s books let the adults off easy—read them enough times and you can let your mind wander while your voice follows along.
Not so with Seuss—he’s too tongue-twisty to let your attention slip.
My favorite part of the book to read aloud is when the Cat returns with his (as my toddler puts it) “cleaning truck” to set the house right again.
he picked up the cake,
and the rake, and the gown,
and the milk, and the strings,
and the books, and the dish,
and the fan, and the cup,
and the ship, and the fish.
and he put them away.
then he said, ‘that is that.’
and then he was gone
with a tip of his hat.
The little section is dense with anapests—the metrical feet comprising two short (or unstressed) syllables and one long (or stressed) one.
Duh duh DUM duh duh DUM.
Read aloud the Seuss above and you’ll feel those anapests sweep you away. In contrast with the rest of the book—which does have its anapestal moments!—this section practically swings, begging to reader to speed up, cleaning up, as it were, the tongue-tripping and halting stops of the previous pages.
What a delight!
Taylor Coe 