Hats off to the cat in the hat

Anyone who thinks that books are old hat clearly didn’t attend the Family Literacy Night held in conjunction with Read Across America last week at MCES.

Read Across America Day is a nationwide reading celebration that takes place annually on March 2nd, Dr. Seuss’s birthday. Some celebrate all week long.

Across the country, thousands of schools, libraries, and community centers participate by bringing together kids and books, and I think that if that Theodor Suess Geisel were alive to see, he’d be so proud of his legacy.

I was so pleased to see how much time and effort it took to create the colorful, elaborate Suess-inspired artwork I saw in the halls of our elementary school.

Every classroom had works on display. The hallways were nothing less than an art gallery for the creative minds of children and educators.

The only thing I wish had been different was attendance; I wish more parents had brought their children out to participate in Family Literacy Night.

Some might wonder how or what the work of an American author born in 1904, who wrote and illustrated 60 books with witty rhyming words and silly, sometimes nonsensical characters had to do with life today. I would say the answer is everything.

Creativity and the things that inspire it don’t have an era. When you read a book by Dr. Suess, it doesn’t matter if the child is four or ten (or almost 40), the words make you smile. It doesn’t matter if it’s 1940 or 2019. The words are still wise, and witty and they address humankind and the things that fascinate and plague us. Suess is timeless and I hope when 3019 comes, we are still holding bound, paper pages and reading is words.

Thank you to the school system, teachers and participants who made the fun celebration of literacy and Dr. Suess possible!