What is it about Dr. Seuss books that makes kids want to hear them again and again and again?  I pretty much had The Cat in the Hat memorized around Maggie’s third birthday, so a Seuss-themed party was a natural choice!

The invitation was a bit wordy, but it definitely set the tone:

For this party I decided to go with a pull-apart cupcake cake.  I was worried that the frosting would sag between the cupcakes, but it turned out great!

The hardest part of this cake was figuring out how to configure the cupcakes so they would be shaped like Cat in the Hat.  In case anyone wants to replicate this cake, here is the “map” of my version.  The chocolate cupcakes are the cat’s hat, and the vanilla ones are his face, bowtie, and neck:

Another hint:  it really helped to put a dab of frosting under each cupcake so they didn’t slide around while I was decorating the top.

The food was fun!  I used a copy of this Green Eggs and Ham Cookbook for most of the ideas.

Maggie loves strawberry smoothies, so I made an entire pitcher full and called them the “Pink Yink Ink Drink.”  Of course there was a green ham (thanks to a healthy patting of chopped parsley and cilantro) and roast beast, along with green eggs (deviled eggs with yolks dyed green).  Pasta was a must (our children would eat pasta for every meal if we let them) which we named “Noodle Eating Poodle Noodles.”  For dessert we had the cupcakes with Who-Pudding instead of ice cream.

For activities, the kids played “Pin the Tail on the Cat” and a version of duck-duck-goose called “Cat, Cat, HAT!”  We also read some Dr. Seuss stories, colored, and hunted for green eggs.  A friend gave us a Cat in the Hat game, so the kids had a lot of fun trying to do the silly tricks it required.

The party favors were colorful mini Easter baskets filled with Dr. Seuss stickers, erasers, and pencils.

The thank you cards had simple Cat in the Hat clip art on the outside, with this text inside (probably modified from something I found online – I can’t really remember):

The friendship part is so true.  The picture below was taken four years ago, but most of these kids are still her best buddies.  Maggie is such a social little thing that having her friends over to play is always the best part of her birthday.  (That or the cake… the girl does love cake!)