Dr. Seuss’s The Cat in the Hat, an interactive "Living Book," uses bright colors, playful characters, and silly animation to reinforce early literacy skills and language development. Through the familiar surroundings of Dr. Seuss, children can enter a world of imagination to witness this popular book come alive. When starting this program, the zany Cat in the Hat appears to introduce the three modes available to the user. There is the "Read to Me" mode, the "Let Me Play" mode and the "Options" mode. In the "Read to Me" mode the child is read to by childlike voices, as the words are presented on the screen and highlighted as they are spoken. This gives the user the choice of listening only or reading along. What might be an otherwise unappealing activity to children becomes visually stimulating and fun through the animations and music. The characters and objects come alive on the page while they act out the spoken text. There is singing, dancing, and pages of entertainment. In the "Let Me Play" mode, the text is also highlighted while the words are spoken. However, in this mode the user is able to interact with the characters and objects. Once each page is read they have the option of using the mouse to click on anything pictured on the page. The object or character clicked on comes alive through movement, voice, or both. On some pages the user may also click on an object and drag it to another part of the page. Occasionally, one of the book’s characters even directs the user on what to do. The third mode simply explains the software’s options to the user. The Cat in the Hat again appears to explain how to go to a specific page in the book, how to return to a page and how to quit once the book has begun. Included with this software is also an abundance of resources for the teacher. These include Internet sites, an annotated bibliography, fifteen pages of lesson plans and activities with worksheets to accompany them, and technical support for the teacher.

 The content of this software is clear, accurate, and well designed for early through intermediate readers. Although teachers may be more likely to use this program with preschoolers and beginning readers, as it reinforces the concepts of letter sounds and recognition, phonemic awareness, vocabulary development, phonemic awareness, and fluency of reading, it is important to remember how much we all find comfort in old, familiar books. Intermediate readers may not be entertained by this program alone but could, however, be challenged through some of the lessons provided with this software. It is also possible to use The Cat in the Hat, or other Dr. Seuss resources, to help teach poetic skills, a concept often taught to older students. Although The Cat in the Hat is fun and imaginative, the basic skills of reading and language development remain strong for the duration of the program. It is great to see a program teach these skills through the entertaining and silly world of Dr. Seuss. To see all this combined into a program that is easily accessible and appropriate for young children is added benefit of this "Living Book." observed the ease my four-year-od nephew had using The Cat in the Hat independently and was pleased to see his interest level remain high throughout the program.

The technical quality of this program is practically flawless. It is easy to install and use. After the disc is inserted into the computer, a picture of the book’s cover appears on the screen and the user simply clicks on the word "install" and the program begins. Students from preschool age and up would have no problem using this program independently. The only possible difficulty some children may experience is if they choose to speed through the introduction or switch from one mode to the other before it has finished. These commands are stated in the manual only. Any other knowledge needed to use this program is explained by The Cat in the Hat in a voice that is clear and concise. The graphics, sound, and animation involved in this program are excellent. The colors are bright and cheerful, the sound is clear, and the voices match the characters’ mouths, and the animations are true to the silly and fun style attached to any Dr. Seuss book or product. There is just enough happening on the pages to appeal to children without taking away from the learning skills the text offers. All interactions take place after the text has been highlighted and read and so, in turn, the animations are a benefit and not a distraction to the student’s learning.

 Dr. Seuss’s The Cat in the Hat makes excellent use of the computer. It includes animation, sound, and color to provide a multimedia learning experience that goes beyond that of a book or book on tape. The highlighted text is an example of a feature that could only be found in a "Living Book". This feature reinforces the skill of left to right reading and the matching of voice to print, both of which are early literacy skills. One limitation to this program is the lack of variety. There are only two modes (although both are lengthy), "Read to Me" and "Let Me Play" and after the user experiences both modes they will have seen all aspects of the program. This is why I believe young children will find this program most appealing. There are, however, several lesson plans provided that, if used, could bring more outlets of creativity to the student and more variety to what the program can offer. It is also through these lessons that a teacher would be able to assess the students’ learning. Other than through observation and these lessons, The Cat in the Hat would not serve as an adequate assessment of the skills being learned.

 Role of Students

 Although students are not constructing a product through this software, they are still empowered by the program. The Cat in the Hat allows for a feeling of independence, which may be very empowering to students new to technology or beginners to reading. This is another reason why this program may be best for young children. A student who is new to using the mouse (clicking and dragging) or a student who is learning to read is given the opportunity to work according to their own learning needs. They decide how much or how little they interact, both with the computer and with the text. More advanced students may feel somewhat constrained if they are not given an additional activity by the teacher to compliment the program. This program is definitely best suited for individual use. Through practice and repeated use, young students will become more confident readers as they make their own decisions and gain proficiency over the reading process. With repeated use, students’ computer skills will improve as well.

 The role of the teacher is very limited. The students need little monitoring as the program is geared toward individual use. The program is very well suited as a reinforcement tool to early literacy skills and the teacher needs to do little to prepare the students for use. The teacher could, however, demonstrate the program to the whole class one time, especially if the students are new to using computers. The teacher can do little to modify, change or add to the software itself. Any additions would have to be teacher made, according to the needs of the students or borrowed from the lessons provided in the manual. There is a lesson provided for all subjects, including drama and art and attractive worksheets to go along with them. These lessons build on the basic literacy skills and are provided for all levels of readers.

 Classroom Usage

This program is excellent for individual student use. It is ideal for kindergarten and first grade students, especially those beginning to read. This program provides students with practice, review, and reinforcement to the basic early literacy skills and should be made available for students to access on their own. Students in a classroom are at many different levels of reading and this program would not be as beneficial in a group atmosphere as it would be at an individual level. Teachers may even pair students together to work on a teacher created lesson. However, it would not work well in a group situation and reading level should be considered when pairing students. The lessons and resources accompanying this software are filled with fun, creative ideas supporting all spectrums of a classroom curriculum. I highly recommend using them to add variety to this program.

 Critical Summary

 The Cat in the Hat is an entertaining and fun filled software program supporting any beginning reading program, particularly in early childhood education. It offers an opportunity for students to strengthen their literacy skills and language development. the zany and silly world of Dr. Seuss allows students to open their minds to creativity and imagination. The program is visually stimulating and encourages motivation and involvement with the user. The two modes in the program are, however, somewhat repetitive and lacking in variety. They could certainly be made more appealing to older students by adding an additional classroom activity to the software. This program, used alone, would be most satisfying to early readers or young children learning computer skills. Teachers will appreciate this program as a supplement to their curriculum, providing an experience that improves their students’ reading skills while boosting their confidence. Students at a wide range of reading levels will become successful and independent readers as they engage in this program in conjunction with a literature rich sand supportive classroom environment.

 I gave this program a rating of 8. It accomplishes its purpose of entertaining young children, while reinforcing early literacy skills. It allows for some interaction between the user and the software but could have more variety to its features. The multi-media technology involved in this program is excellent. The sound, animation, and color make for a fun and zany experience with the crazy Cat in the Hat and reading. This program could not be used as an assessment of reading skills alone, but could be complimented with teacher created lesson plans. Overall, it is sure to be a hit with young children!