3V0769.04 Contrast: reading Cat in the Hat (3/1/80)

I read this to Peggy for the first time today. It was very difficult to keep
her interested in any specific page long enough for me to read aloud
the relatively extensive text on each page. Realizing early that this was
a problem, I decided to see how far I could carry a straight forward
reading. I just barely managed — by using all of the tricks picked up by
being a father for ten years, pointing at the objects, verbal emphasis,
preventing her turning pages, etc. So “Hop on Pop” is a book of
pictures with words. “Cat in the Hat” is a storey book with pictures.
The episodic character of “Hop on Pop” is not only no draw back for
Peggy, she is clearly insensitive to, uninterested in, any extended story.