The Cat in the Hat Beginner Book Dictionary

by P.D. Eastman

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!

Genres: Childrens, Picture Books, Reference, Nonfiction, Dictionaries, Language, Humor

144 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 1964

About the author

Philip Dey "Phil" Eastman was an American screenwriter, children's author, and illustrator. As an author, he is known primarily as P. D. Eastman. A protégé of Theodor Geisel (Dr. Seuss), Eastman wrote many books for children, in his own distinct style under the Dr. Seuss brand of Random House, many of which were in the Beginner Books series.

From 1936 to 1941, Eastman worked at the story department of Walt Disney Productions. From 1941 to 1943 he worked at the story department of Warner Bros. Cartoons. From 1945 to 1952 he worked in the story department of United Productions of America. He contributed to the "Private Snafu" World War II training films, wrote for the animation Mr. Magoo, and the Gerald McBoing-Boing series for UPA.

Reviews

[Calista · Rating 2 out of 5]

This was drawn by P. D. Eastman and it’s so easy to tell. All the dogs and alligators and his characters from the Swing are all over the definitions. It really is a young persons dictionary. There is a word with a picture of that word and a little sentence. It’s 134 pages long, about.

I can’t see how this is all that exciting, but it could be useful to a kid who is learning to read. It’s an old thing in the Dr. Seuss series to help kids learn to read. It’s cute enough.

[Hilary · Rating 5 out of 5]

Some language books can be a bit dry, but this one is really fun. We took it to France with us this year for a camping holiday and it really made us laugh. Each alphabetically sorted word is included in a sentence so you learn some grammar at the same time. Although we never needed to say 'my mother is a hen' or 'a goat with three horns' I'm sure some useful knowledge was absorbed during the fun, and we enjoyed learning how to say 'daddy is tired' and 'daddy is tired again' (very appropriate after a 17 hour journey) and 'daddy is sunburnt' after a hot day at the beach. And then completely without the book giving this example we managed to say 'daddy is sunburnt again' (on the second day) so this proved book worked!

Fun 70's illustrations and lots of animals doing amusing and silly things.

[Sophie Crane · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great Seuss book; helpful in French too.

[Adriana Scarpin · Rating 4 out of 5]

Excelente para crianças aprendendo inglês.

[Gerry · Rating 5 out of 5]

What better way of brushing up one's French is there than this 'The Cat in the Hat Beginner Book', it's such great fun and makes French much more enjoyable.

Using individual words - ink =L'ecrire - and short phrases - Daddy got a sunburn = Papa a attrapé un coup de soleil, Dr Seuss and his team apply amusing illustrations to identify each situation.

And starting the whole thing off is the ubiquitous Aaron the alligator who is an American crocodile - Aaron est un crocodile d'Amerique. And Aaron appears frequently throughout the book, mowing the lawn, reading a newspaper, writing words wrong on a blackboard, struggling to do a puzzle, mowing the lawn and even flying to the moon - Aaron vole vers la lune!

You might be wondering how Dr Seuss displays the letter Z. Well he does so as only he can. A full page illustration depicts 25 cute little birds in a nest being watched over by their mother and father. The caption? Zyxuzpf (no phonetics here!) are not found in France - On ne trouve pas d'oiseaux zyxuzpf en France. But he doesn't tell us where they are found! Now where is it? Or sahould I say Où est-ce ? Goodness, the book hasn't been wasted!

And the back cover poses two questions: Does your cat speak French? - Est-ce que votre chat parle français? and If not, why not? - Si non, pourquoi pas? Overseeing the questions is The Cat in the Hat looking suitably smug and it certainly looks as though he does parle français!

It's great fun even for the non-French speaker - and it makes me wonder why it couldn't be used as an adjunct to French text books in schools. It would certainly make je suis, tu est, il est, ... more fun to learn.

[Radwa · Rating 4 out of 5]

this is straightforward, it's a dictionary for kids, but inspired by characters and creatures and the stories of dr. seuss, even if it wasn't drawn by dr. seuss. it's educational and fun and engaging, with each word illustrated and used in a sentence/example.

[Preston · Rating 5 out of 5]

I LIKED THIS BOOK

[Amy · Rating 5 out of 5]

My dad got me this book when I was little because he loved it as a child, and I can see why! The illustrations and highlighted text, along with basic sight words organized from A to Z are perfect! You can’t beat this classic! It truly is one of the best educational resources for emerging young readers out there and should be a staple in every home, classroom, and library.

[Andrew Ives · Rating 4 out of 5]

(1974 UK edition) I lived in France for 10yrs before I ever read this book, so I wasn't reading it as a beginner, but more to see how French is taught 'easily' without too many grammar tables, exercises and all the things that learners find such a dull hurdle when learning languages.

There are plenty of good things about this book and a few less good things. It's presented in a colourful, uncluttered, clear and accessible manner. The proofreading is near-impeccable (I only found "vallée(e)" and "mangerai(s)" written wrongly in the whole book). The general absurdity of the illustrations and examples is great, and mostly presents the phrases in a memorable way.

Conversely, this is one of its downfalls too. Examples like "He is wearing a moose mask" are not phrases that are likely to crop up in regular day-to-day conversation. "Mouth open/closed" is included twice, while a common word such as "monkey" is not included at all. Words such as "soulier" & "plume" are a bit antiquated nowadays, being usually replaced by "chaussure" & "stylo", and were probably on their way out in 1960s too. Metric/Imperial measurements are not translated very sensibly. While I'm sure Odette and the Dept of Linguistics at the University of California in San Diego must know their oignons, a little more care could've been taken with some examples such as the one for "Go" - "The sun goes down/Le soleil se couche." Whilst correct, the verb 'aller' is completely missing and therefore makes this quite a pointless example. This happens 5 or 6 times with other examples too, but for such a commonly-used verb as 'aller', it's quite incredible to leave this out. All said and done, there is much to learn here and in an enjoyable way. With a few amendments, this could be such a useful book for any student of French. 4.25/5

[Sara · Rating 5 out of 5]

Fue muy interesante y entretenido leer este tipo de libro de mi infancia, claramente está hecho para el aprendizaje de los niños, pero ciertamente tiene un vocabulario bastante completo (abarcando lo básico claro está, ya que es para niños y no posee palabras muy complejas).

A pesar de ser un diccionario, lo que lo hace atractivo es el hecho de que cada palabra va acompañado de una imagen y una frase que la describe junto con su tradución, haciendo más ameno el aprendizaje.

Lo bueno de este tipo de libros, es que siempre hace recordar palabras que muy pocos usamos, más sin embargo, son bastante comunes. Lo único malo, es que al estar diseñado para aprender español, las reglas de pronunciación y el prólogo están en inglés, por lo que son de poca ayuda si se usa para pronunciar en inglés.

Recomendado para los niños que quieran empezar con lo básico de ambos idiomas.

[Melinda · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is so fun to read with Henry. Aaron the alligator holds a sign that says “I am a horse” for the word TRUE. That is not true. (No es verdad.) Well Aaron is hilarious and he’s on every other page sick in bed, reading the newspaper, crashing an airplane, cutting paper, etc. All I have to ask is, “What is our horse up to now?” and Henry cracks up. There are also a lot of bears (osos), dogs (perros) and birds (pájaros) doing funny things. The illustrations are so engaging that Henry will sit down and read the book to or with me every night. You can’t say that for many dictionaries.

Edited to add: We are still reading this book every night three months later. Thumbs up!

[Stef · Rating 5 out of 5]

I read this as a child — this might’ve been one of my first books ever. I found it recently in a box and looked through it with my fiancé for kicks, and it was fun! Some sentences are funny and some drawings are goofy. I always liked how some words formed stories when grouped together (e.g., the Q section with the milkman bringing the queen stale milk and then bringing her roses in the Rs). My fiancé thought the quintuplets were creepy (e.g., We are all wearing MITTENS,” they declared, staring black-eyed at the reader while waving their mittened mitts). Some words didn’t age well (e.g., all the American Indian mentions). I’ll always think fondly of this book however.

[Samantha · Rating 2 out of 5]

A picture dictionary. Some of the words feature sentences that use the word being defined as a way of further attaching meaning to it, but I don't like it when books use the word being defined in the definition of itself. It's confusing and doesn't achieve its purpose.

While this isn't a book a child would use as a reference source, it can be a useful book for expanding basic vocabulary.

[Hoang Shin · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a really fun beginner's dictionary for young readers and writers. It uses classic Dr. Seuss images to give examples of how words can be used in sentences. It also helps that each word has an image to support word comprehension. I would include this in my classroom library as a resource for learning new words.

[Brooke Taylor · Rating 4 out of 5]

Let me just say AM NO THE DEMOGRAPHIC FOR THIS BOOK as a nearly 18 year old I’m actually far from it
But I’m a total beginner at French so I figured why not and all I can say is mon d’eau! It was useful! I found this in a thrift store and for the 50 cents I payed for it it was WELL worth it :) it’s a good very beginner friendly glimpse into French for all ages

[Tayo · Rating 4 out of 5]

Que pasa? Me gusta este libro mucho! Espanol es el idioma del mundo,personas! Tu no piensas que puedo hablar espanol, si? Realmente? Con el libro puedo escribir y solo los personas que hablan espanol van a comprender, estas triste? Entoces... vas a leer el dictionario de Dr.Suess! Adios!

[Darren · Rating 4 out of 5]

It's a decent enough first reader dictionary, but the only thing to really set it apart from otherof the same is that it's a Dr.Seuss. The problem is that Seuss didn't draw it, and so for me it's just not worth owning.

[Mortisha Cassavetes · Rating 5 out of 5]

I just love this book. It is a wonderful resource book for beginning readers. Alphabetical order of objects in bright color illustrations. A wonderful book to have on my forever shelf. I highly recommend this book for a needed resource.

[Steven · Rating 5 out of 5]

So I found this in my mom's cedar chest. Not sure why this one was saved out of all the Dr. Seuss books I had as a tyke. It's fun and whimsical and the illustrations are frequently hilarious. Has to be a great vocabulary builder.

[Зоран Филиповић · Rating 5 out of 5]

Књигу сам добио на поклон још док сам био клиња од комшинице, наставнице енглеског језика. Тек сада видим да књига представља одличан алат да се сваки човек упозна са енглеским језиком преко главних појмова који су објашњени и сликовно.

[Tool a Magazine · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book never gets old! 1500 stars.

[Eileen · Rating 5 out of 5]

I can remember reading this and looking through the pages so many times. I would still recognize many of the pictures!

[Sarah · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excellent learning guide for young toddlers!
Read my full review at http://www.dreamworldbooks.com/2011/1...

[Vee · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book is pretty useful and (more importantly fun) for a beginner-intermediate learner.

[Kim · Rating 4 out of 5]

Organized by English alphabetically, this dictionary gives an example of the word use in a complete sentence.

[Joel Manuel · Rating 5 out of 5]

I read this a hundred times when I was a kid, and I'm going to buy a new copy for my son.

[Indah Threez Lestari · Rating 3 out of 5]

115 - 2014

[Kevin Hull · Rating 3 out of 5]

Educational but not all that entertaining.

[Lisa Powell · Rating 5 out of 5]

Very good for French recognition, excellent repetition of grammar in different contexts. Cram cards here:

http://www.cram.com/flashcards/french...

[Carla · Rating 5 out of 5]

Love the colors and illustrations. Great way to learn.