Emma Brockes (I do not like that Dr Seuss, 17 March) seems to have lost touch with her inner child. My own daughters had a Dr Seuss-free upbringing, but I recently bought a compendium for my granddaughters, aged three and four, and they have enjoyed The Cat in the Hat and The Cat in the Hat Comes Back so much that we haven’t yet got to the other three.
“Have you tried to read these books? Aloud?” Ms Brockes asks. Yes, and they have a rip-roaring cumulative effect, enhanced by the wonderfully anarchic pictures. One or two lines are difficult to scan, but they can be made to work, and I have had as much fun reading the books as the girls have had listening to them. I am looking forward to introducing them to How the Grinch Stole Christmas, having seen the film.
As for “cold, cold wet day”, this kind of repetition is a poetic device as old as the hills. Try Tennyson (Break, Break, Break), for example.
Tully Potter
Tonbridge, Kent
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