Review: Imagine That!: How Dr. Seuss Wrote the Cat in the Hat by Judy Sierra, Kevin Hawkes (Illustrations)

Title: Imagine That!: How Dr. Seuss Wrote the Cat in the Hat
Author: Judy Sierra, Kevin Hawkes (Illustrations) 
Format: ARC
Publisher: Random House Books for Young Readers
Publish Date: September 12, 2017 (Today!)
Source: Publisher

What's the Story?:

From Goodreads.com: "Have you ever wondered how the great Dr. Seuss wrote his most famous book? Did you know that for The Cat in the Hat, he wasn't allowed to make up the fun words he was known for--like OOBLECK and IT-KUTCH and HIPPO-NO-HUNGUS? He was only allowed to use words from a very strict list!

This bouncy account of the early career of Dr. Seuss (a.k.a. Ted Geisel) proves that sometimes limitations can be the best inspiration of all.

Kid-friendly prose (with Seussian rhyme for Ted's dialogue) and whimsical illustrations by award winner Kevin Hawkes recall the work of Dr. Seuss himself. Writing tips from Dr. Seuss and exclusive letters from the author and illustrator, detailing how they created this book, are included!"

My Two Cents:

"Imagine That!" is the story of Dr. Seuss and how he came up with all of his wonderful stories. It's filled with great illustrations from an illustrator I adore: Kevin Hawkes. It's about how he first got jobs as a writer for a new style of early reader books after an interesting career as a cartoonist for adults. It talks about how he turned the children lit world on its head with his zany stories.

Dr. Seuss is a hot author in our household as I have two year old twins. I've been reading the girls Dr. Seuss books since they were in utero and now that they are two, they appreciate the books even more. While this book is probably a little advanced for two year olds, my girls loved all of the silly words that appear in this book just like they like the silly rhymes in the Dr. Seuss books. I know my girls definitely learned something about one of their favorite authors in this book and so did I!

My girls (and I) also adored the pictures in this book. Hawkes is a great illustrator and did a great job of bringing Dr. Seuss to life. My girls loved seeing some of their old familiar friends from Dr. Seuss like the Cat in the Hat and we loved seeing new ones as well. This was a fun read for the whole family!