If you asked me now to choose my favourite book I'd be like a kid in a sweetshop, unable to decide from a huge selection of the ones I have read. As a young lad though it was far easier with many less to pick from having only been on this planet for a few years. And without doubt my choice would have been the poem book 'The Cat in The Hat' by Dr Seuss (aka Theodor Geisel). Here's why I loved it so much, and still do:

1. The poem format. The simple rhythm and the crazy rhymes stuck in my head and hooked me like a roller coaster ride I didn't want to end.

2. It filled a whole book. Wow! Reading it end-to-end was like having the biggest bar of my favourite chocolate. And, for a second helping, the follow up, 'The Cat in the Hat Comes Back', did the same.

3. Fantastic characters. A giant cat that could talk and wore amazing headgear and the mischievous Thing 1 and Thing 2. I'd not met anyone like them before. Plus the kids looked and thought like I did!

4. It was great fun. It was a heartwarming, enjoyable tale that I laughed along with as it totally resonated with my wacky sense of humour, which I still possess.

5. It could be read aloud. It was a wonderful poem to read in my head but it worked even better when Dad read it to me at bedtimes. It was my first experience of a performance poem, so it's no coincidence that I am now a performance poet.

6. The words. I could understand all the words (only 236 different ones in all while Seuss' 'Green Eggs and Ham' had only 50). But it wasn't 'dumbed down' - there was complexity in its simplicity as these words combined with all the other aspects listed above to stimulate my imagination no end.

When I work in schools children and staff frequently ask me what my favourite children's book is and I reply “It's the Cat In...” and virtually everyone is able to complete that title even though the book was first published in 1957. Need I say more?

What was THE book of your childhood and why? Let me know in the comments below.