As surprising as it may be, we’ll be flipping another page on the calendar tomorrow, and this “new” year will already be in its third month! March may mean madness to some, lions and lambs for others (goodness gracious, we on the East Coast could really do with a lamb soon!), but for anyone who has shared a little Hop on Pop or The Cat in the Hat with a little one, March rings in an annual reading celebration that shouldn’t be missed. The National Education Association’s Read Across America occurs each year on or near March 2nd, in honor of the birthday of Theodor Geisel, more commonly known as Dr. Seuss himself.
This year, millions of adults and children will be sharing a story together on Tuesday, March 2nd, celebrating the joys that books can bring, and emphasizing the importance of lifelong reading to our children. I’ve had the great pleasure of experiencing many Read Across America festivities when I was teaching preschool, and the red and white striped stovepipe hat was always the perfect accessory for the guest readers we welcomed into our classroom. We even were fortunate enough to have the Cat in the Hat himself visit our school one year, thanks to the efforts of one of our class parents, who just happened to be highly connected with the NEA program!
But you certainly don’t need to have any special connections to make this March 2nd special. The Read Across America goal is for “every child to be reading in the company of a caring adult.” Check your local library or community center for events near you, or feel free to create some fun of your own. The official NEA site has an abundance of info and suggestions, from activity ideas to resources and materials to tips for parents about reading aloud, book suggestions and making reading fun. Here at 5 Minutes for Books, we’re all about celebrating the written word, and we strive to help create an online community of readers, as well. In that vein, Read Across America is also present on Facebook, inviting people to share their experiences, make their pledges for 2010’s celebration, and to emphasize the importance of reading to children!
While I’m not spending my days in a classroom of preschoolers anymore, I do have the good fortune to have three eager-to-be-read-to children of my own, so this March 2nd will find us reading some of our favorites, especially from the basket of Dr. Seuss books currently in our living room, and feeling thankful for the fun and laughs and adventures and experiences that books have brought into our lives. I hope you’ll join us- send an e-card to a fellow book-lover (it’s always been my impression that grandchildren LOVE to get emails in their moms’ inboxes!), pledge to participate, and most importantly, gather the children you care about close to you and read together!
Dawn loves that her kids are at all different stages of reading, allowing her to read aloud from board books, picture books and novels everyday! These book experiences are frequent topics on her blog, my thoughts exactly.
Jennifer, Snapshot says
This is so fun! I have a picture of Amanda with her Cat in the Hat hat made in first grade that I love, and Kyle’s class is supposed to dress in red and white and black on Tuesday to celebrate. And of course I’ll make an extra effort to do some reading here at home on that day. You can’t go wrong there!
Carrie, Reading to Know says
I had NOT heard about this. That’s pretty cool! Furthermore, we just bought some new Cat in the Hat pencils to begin our writing career with so we’ll have to debut them on Tuesday and read some Seuss.
Thanks for the head’s up!
Jeanette says
We shall certainly be digging out our full collection of Dr Zuess tomorrow!
Kevin Hart says
Hi Dawn,
Thanks for the mention of NEA’s Read Across America and for your appreciation of the importance of reading to children. NEA’s Vice President Lily Eskelsen recently wrote a very inspirational blog post that really drives home the point.
I hope you get the chance to check it out: http://lilysblackboard.org/
Thanks again,
Kevin Hart, NEA