When my oldest son was in preschool, one of his teachers used to call him “Zach Attack!” It got me thinking about how “Zach” rhymes with a lot of words and how it would be easy to write a poem with his name. While “Zach” and “hat” don’t exactly rhyme like “Cat in the Hat,” when it came time to making an end of the year gift, I couldn’t think of anything better than to do a Cat in the Hat parody book.

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HOW TO MAKE IT
1. First, buy the box. I originally bought some plain ones from Michael’s but they wouldn’t arrive in time so I went to Daiso and found some! I could have taken more time to cover up the existing design that was printed on the box but ran out of time. If you don’t have a Daiso near you, here’s some boxes on Amazon that are very similar and a great price for 3!

2. Next, buy the snacks. Figure out what will fit and if you still have empty space you can fill it with crinkle paper or Easter grass.

3. Next, write the poem. Notice you ned to write the poem after you buy the snacks so that you can work the snack names into the poem. See my original poem below for ideas!

4. Lastly, design the cover. I drew a caricature of my son in the style of Cat in the Hat by studying the drawings in the books. You can find the books on YouTube if you don’t have any at home. Print the cover on full sheet labels at cut them down. Note–the Avery full sheet labels with TrueBlock is the way to go. If you have any design on the box you don’t want it to show through the label.

5. Lastly, print your poem to fit in the box and then stuff the box! Your teacher will love it!

MATERIALS LIST

• Boxes in the shape of a book : (may also be able to find them at Daiso)
• Avery full sheet labels with TrueBlock : (Definitely get the ones with TrueBlock because they are more opaque than the cheap off-brand ones and will look better on your box especially if there’s printing underneath).
• A variety of snacks
• Blue crinkle paper
• An original Cat in the Hat inspired poem