Children celebrate Dr. Seuss’s birthday

The Primrose School of Las Colinas participated in Read Across America by celebrating Dr. Seuss’s birthday on March 2. Guests dressed in colorful attire read to preschoolers from various Dr. Seuss’s books.

In one classroom, a staff member dressed as Dr. Seuss read Horton hears a Who.

“I love going inside of the different classrooms to read Dr. Seuss books to the kids,” Belinda Lessard, who works in the kitchen, said. “I’ve always loved his books, so when they asked me to do this I said I would love to participate.  

Read Across America Day is an annual reading motivation and awareness program that encourages children to celebrate reading on Dr. Seuss’s birthday.

“Each of our classrooms picked a certain book by Dr. Seuss and enhanced and themed their room based on their choice,” Tamesha Woodson, Director of Primrose School of Las Colinas, said. “They did different activities and art projects based on their book as well.

“Ms. Lessard will be reading a special book the children have picked out in their classrooms, while interacting and celebrating reading with them,” Woodson said. “We love doing this event, because this is a fun event for our students, and they have been having so much fun with it.

“I believe Reading Across America is a great event, but of course we want to encourage reading across the world as well. Some people consider reading a boring activity and not as fun. We want our students to be empowered and encouraged that they can learn so much through reading by picking up a book vs. a video game or turning on the television. We want them to know reading is very important.

“We celebrate this event every year, but this is the first year we’re making this event a lot bigger,” Woodson said. “This year can be considered as the kickoff to make everything grander.”

The Primrose School of Las Colinas donated 500 books to deHaro-Saldivar Health Center, which is part of the Parkland Hospital system. The book donations will go towards the hospital’s Reach out and Read Program for patients.

“I am amazed at how Dr. Seuss wrote books that are perfect for kids and gets them excited about reading,” Bethany Vaughan, a kindergarten teacher at The Primrose School of Las Colinas, said. “There is a lot of rhyming and words that start with the same letter. His books are perfect for early readers, and his illustrations are awesome and extremely creative. I get teary eyed when I think about everything he has done for the children.

“I want my children to become avid readers, and I want them to enjoy reading” she said. “I think Dr. Seuss’s books are great to instill that love of reading, because they are so crazy and the illustrations are so capitating. I had a table set of all of the Dr. Seuss books, and all of the kids would come over and start reading the books during their free time, because the books are so interesting.

“I just read he wrote around 200 words that rhymed, and then he wrote The Cat and The Hat from those words,” Vaughan said. “I thought that was an interesting way to write a book. There are hundreds of books he has written, and they have affected so many children. He’s probably one of the most influential writers for children. I love him and our classroom has been reading books from him every day, and the kids are enjoying it so much.”