Date: Fri 05-Mar-1999

Publication: Bee

Author: SHANNO

Quick Words:

Seuss-NEA-Geisel

Full Text:

The Cat In The Hat Came Back!

(with photos)

BY SHANNON HICKS

"They're good! They taste just like normal eggs!" pronounced Cameron Gehrman,

a six-year-old guest at a Green Eggs and Ham/Dr Seuss Birthday Party at C.H.

Booth Library earlier this week.

It took nearly a full book of clever rhymes and verses for Sam-I-am to get

someone to try green eggs and ham in the 1960 Dr Seuss book of the same name.

But the multi-generational guests at Dr Seuss' Birthday Party on March 2 were

much easier to convince when it came to trying some unconventional cuisine.

No houses, no mouses, no boxes nor foxes... children and parents eagerly went

into the community room of Newtown's library on Tuesday night and gobbled up

plates filled with ham, biscuits, and yes, green eggs by the dozen.

Children's librarian Lana Meloni had accepted a nationwide challenge issued by

National Education Association president Bob Chase and Random House Inc., the

publishers of the ever-popular children's books by Dr Seuss, to participate in

the 2nd Annual Read Across America when she coordinated the Newtown event.

"Tonight's party is a reason to emphasize the importance of reading,

especially reading aloud by parents to their children," Mrs Meloni said

Tuesday afternoon. "Plus, Dr Seuss was a genius. I always thought he was, and

I loved him as a kid."

This year's celebration -- a national event created to encourage reading aloud

by grown-ups to youngsters -- was coupled with a celebration of the 95th

anniversary of Theodor Geisel, the brilliant writer better known as Dr Seuss.

The NEA had estimated that nearly 15 million children would be participating

in Read Across America events across the country on Tuesday.

Including Newtown, there were 39 towns in Connecticut registered with the NEA

taking part in Read Across America this year. Most towns had events scheduled

through their schools, ranging from read-a-thons with guest readers to lunch

programs. Third grade students at T.W. Miller School in Wilton participated in

a Read-Away-The-Day Party, spending the entire day listening to and reading

with guest readers. At Washington Elementary School in West Haven, classes

were being visited by guest readers including the mayor and members of the

city's Board of Education.

At Gainfield Elementary School in Southbury, an ambitious reading program took

participants literally "across America." The school's celebration saw each

hour of reading time, with students of all grades and their teachers doing the

reading, equal to one mile of the readers' route across the country. Their

fuel? Green eggs and ham, and birthday cake, of course.

The Dr Seuss Birthday Party in Newtown began with a dinner served by members

of the library staff and a supplemental staff of volunteers. Piles of Dr Seuss

books were placed on the tables in the community room-turned-dining hall, with

parents encouraged to read to their children. Some parents even turned the

tables on their children, asking the younger generation to read to them.

Dessert was a red and white five-layer cake that had been baked by Lisa

Chaloux. The entire Chaloux family was at the Dr Seuss party, and Mrs Chaloux

explained that she doesn't work at the library, but wanted to donate the

birthday cake for the event because she and her family "use the library

frequently. We just love it." The gorgeous cake was a big hit, and it tasted

delicious.

After the dinner, a performance followed. Students from Middle Gate's

after-school drama program presented two skits for their families and friends.

Appropriately, the two-part dramatization of Dr Seuss favorites began with

Green Eggs and Ham . The second story acted out was The Cat in the Hat .

Originally, the evening was supposed to close with a 30-minute reading by the

local actor Doug MacHugh. However, Mr MacHugh decided to bring his students

into the celebration by having them present their Dr Seuss skits. The young

actors had colorful costumes and props that could have come right out of the

lively pages of the books they were reading from.

Dr Seuss' books continue to sell thousands of copies annually, even though

some of the titles are over 40 years old. His first book, And to Think That I

Saw It on Mulberry Street , published in 1937 (after it was submitted to 28

publishers), is said to have been sparked by a boat ride. While on his way to

a vacation in Europe in 1936 and listening to the rhythm of the ship's

engines, Dr Seuss found inspiration to write his first rhyming book.

Dr Seuss was prompted by a report published in Life in 1954 that concerned

illiteracy among school children. The report said children were having trouble

learning to read because their books were boring.

Dr Seuss' publisher issued the author a challenge: create a book drawing words

from a list of 250 words -- the publisher's idea of how many words at one time

a first-grader could absorb -- and write a book. Nine months later, Dr Seuss

published The Cat in the Hat , using 220 of the words given to him, and the

book went on to instant success. Dr Seuss continued to use his

rhythm-and-verse writing style for the remainder of his career. Green Eggs and

Ham , by the way, written six years later, uses only fifty words in the entire

book.

Dr Seuss died in 1991, but his legacy will, without a doubt, live on for

generations to come. His books have already proven themselves to be eagerly

picked up by multiple generations within families, and teachers and librarians

across America continue to turn to the late author's writings to inspire

creative thinking -- and now, even some creative cooking -- for all ages.