Dr. Seuss' books come alive

Kindergartners at Bordewich-Bray Elementary school were working on an art project out of green construction paper Friday morning when suddenly their teacher, Judy Rand, broke the silence.

"Baby dolls, guess who came to see you?" she shouted.

In unison, they looked up to see one of their favorite characters.

"The Cat in the Hat," they shouted back.

But Kyra Conway was not entirely convinced.

"The Cat in the Hat is just a person in a costume," she said. "I see the human ears."

And she was right. For her second year, instructional assistant Gene Brown dressed as the character to celebrate the kick-off of national Read Across America month in honor of Dr. Seuss, whose birthday is today.

Dr. Seuss was born Theodor Geisel on March 2, 1904, and 11 years after his death on Sept. 24, 1991, he is still the best-selling children's author across the world.

"It's fun," Brown said. "Bringing the books to life is exciting for the children."

Dressed as the Cat in the Hat, she read the students one of Dr. Seuss' best-known works, "Green Eggs and Ham."

"It's a funny book," said kindergartner Raelynn Mitchell. "Dr. Seuss doesn't like it at first, but then he tries it and he eats it."

And Seeliger Elementary School first-grader Kendra Byers doesn't blame him.

"It's great," she said. "It tastes just like eggs."

Jill Donahue made green eggs and ham in her first-grade classroom in celebration of the month dedicated to reading.

Students helped drop the food coloring into the eggs, then helped stir them as they cooked.

"It was fun," said Kyle Bell, 6. "We got to squeeze Mrs. Donahue's hand to put the food coloring in and we got to shake the eggs."

This is the fifth year Read Across America has been celebrated. Schools across the nation and throughout Carson City spent the day reading and some served cake in honor of Dr. Seuss' birthday.