One of Geisel's manuscript drafts for the book contained the lines, "When I read I am smart / I always cut whole words apart. / Con Stan Tin O Ple, Tim Buk Too / Con Tra Cep Tive, Kan Ga Roo."[1] Geisel had included the contraceptive reference to ensure that publisher Bennett Cerf was reading the manuscript. Cerf did notice the line,[2] and the poem was changed to the following: "My father / can read / big words, too. / Like... / Constantinople / and / Timbuktu."[1]
A popular choice of elementary school teachers and children's librarians, Hop on Pop ranked sixteenth on Publishers Weekly's 2001 list of the all-time best-selling hardcover books for children.[3] Based on a 2007 online poll, the National Education Association named the book one of its "Teachers' Top 100 Books for Children."[4]
