by kellie abrahamson kabrahamson1@aol.com
Beloved children’s author Dr. Seuss passed away over a decade ago, but his memory lives on with his wonderful books about strange places and even stranger creatures. This year marks the 103rd anniversary of Dr. Seuss’s birthday and to honor it the Beaches Branch of the Jacksonville Public Library will be hosting a day-long read-a-thon this Saturday, March 3rd.
Dr. Seuss, a.k.a. Theodore Seuss Geisel, was born on March 2, 1904 and spent most of his life writing and illustrating children’s books. After earning a doctorate in literature at Lincoln College, Oxford, Geisel wrote humor articles for magazines and drew advertisements for major companies to stay afloat during the depression. In 1936, he wrote his first book, And to Think That I Saw It on Mulberry Street, under the pen name Dr. Seuss. After turning to political cartoons and helping with the war effort by serving as the commander of the Animation Dept of the First Motion Picture Unit of the United States Army Air Forces, Seuss went back to writing children’s books. Over his illustrious career, Dr. Seuss wrote 48 children’s books and won numerous awards. He died on September 24, 1991 at 87 years of age.
In honor of his birthday, the National Education Association created “Read Across America Day” seven years ago. The goal is to get every child from pre-school through high school to read a book the week of March 2nd. The event held at our Beaches Branch Library is just one of many celebrations held throughout the country in honor of this special day. For more information on this special program, visit www.nea.org/readacross.
Dr. Seuss’s Birthday Read-A-Thon begins at 10 a.m. and will last until 3 p.m. and will be completely free to the public. The branch will be transformed into the wonderful world of Dr. Seuss, with different areas of the library having various Seuss-themed activities. All day long in the Community Room’ volunteers will be on hand, reading Dr. Seuss stories. Special guests such as the Grinch and the Cat-in-the-Hat will also stop by to greet their fans. At the same time, a movie marathon of Dr. Seuss tales will be playing in the Children’s library, where kids can also get their faces painted with their favorite Seuss character. In the Atrium, an extra-large version of The Foot Book will be on hand that visitors can add their feet to. The Jacksonville Police Department will also be there to provide free children fingerprinting and photos to those who may be interested. The fun stuff, however, is on “Mulberry Street.” Here, kids can visit the If I Ran the Zoo inflatable and take a ride on the “Little Toot” train engine. A real fire truck that kids can explore will be on hand as well. To top it all off, games, crafts, music, refreshments, goodies and balloons make this celebration a real party. Drawings for free Dr. Seuss books and other prizes take place throughout the day to add to the fun. Supplies are, of course, limited so be sure to show up early!
This fun-filled day is geared toward children, but Seuss fans of all ages are welcome. Kids under the age of twelve must be accompanied by an adult at all times, so be prepared to join in all the fun. If you’re worried about finding a place to park, don’t be. The library has set up extra parking areas for the event at nearby Sun Trust Bank and Bank of America. For more information, contact the branch at (904) 254-2452.
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