I would imagine there would have to be some kind of magic involved!
I never realised they were a French/British thing. I always thought the author was American. It's funny that in this day and age a cartoon character with long arms who tickles people for fun is some how detrimental to our kids health. Characters like Mr. Right, Mr. Skinny, Mr. Small all make our kids think worse of themselves or some how suggest that such characteristics are negative and not normal. In the latest pile of horse shit I heard the other day that something like 6 or 8 Dr. Seuss books have now been banned from sale. I can't remember which books got banned but The Cat In The Hat only just scrapped through.