Sam I Am visits local library
By: Toni Walker
Editor of The Steel Country Bee
Theodore Geisel once said, “You can find magic wherever you look. Sit back and relax, all you need is a book.” Children everywhere read Geisel’s books, although they know him as Dr. Seuss. On March 2, two of Seuss’s most well-known characters stopped by the Hughes Springs Public Library, in honor of Read Across America Day.
In May 1997, a small reading task force at NEA came up with a big idea. "Let's create a day to celebrate reading," the group decided. "We hold pep rallies to get kids excited about football. We assemble to remember that Character Counts. Why don't we do something to get kids excited about reading? We'll call it 'NEA's Read Across America' and we'll celebrate it on Dr. Seuss's birthday." And so, the largest celebration of reading this country has ever seen was born on March 2, 1998.
Area schools celebrated the week of March 2 with dress-up days centered on Seuss stories, quotes, or characters. In Daingerfield’s West Elementary, students wore crazy socks, crazy clothes, and red, white and blue. On March 4, students wore mustaches, in honor of the Seuss story, “The Lorax.” The pre-kindergarten and head start students were entertained by the Cat in the Hat while librarian Sharon Lawson read “Green Eggs and Ham.”
Jean Austin, with the Hughes Springs Public Library, invited children and their parents to the library on March 2, where there would be cake and juice to celebrate Seuss’s birthday. As the children gathered, Austin read the poem, “Marco Comes Late,” about a little boy who arrives at school at eleven o’clock. She then told the children that two very special guests would be joining them, and asked them to give applause to show the guests they were ready for them. The Cat in the Hat and Sam then entered the library, and acted out the story “Green Eggs and Ham,” while Austin read the book to the children.
By the end of the afternoon, the Cat was eating the green eggs and ham, and everyone enjoyed cake and punch, in honor of the man who made reading fun.
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