Things out of whack at Seuss reading event

She's seeing sneetches in her sleep.

Putting the final touches on this year's Seuss Fest, she's so immersed in whimsy and nonsense that her peers at Townsend Middle School are a bit worried she's developed a wasket in her basket after she sent an e-mail to them in her best Seussian cadence.

The event will feature a student dressed as the Cat in the Hat. Thing 1 and Thing 2 will make appearances.

And what will she be?

"The harried teacher," she said, joking.

Schools across the community will be holding celebrations of all things Dr. Seuss today to coincide with his birthday and Read Across America, a literacy celebration sponsored by the National Education Association.

Students would not, could not want to miss a celebration such as this.

Which is why the Pima County Public Library system has events throughout the week.

And across town, Richey Elementary School has celebrated the day for the past eight years, even tinting eggs for the kindergartners to resemble a certain delicacy pushed by the curiously persistent Sam-I-Am.

Richey's librarian, Maria Cristina Donnadieu, will be donning black, with white gloves, a top hat and a red bow tie. With her face painted white, she will become the Cat in the Hat, visiting classrooms to read "Green Eggs and Ham" or "The Lorax."

"First you learn to read, and then you read to learn," Donnadieu said. "And of course that's important. But there's also just a joy of imaginative reading that we really want children to experience."

Back at Townsend, students and parents were busy Sunday decorating the library, preparing to welcome 100 students from Fruchthendler and Fort Lowell elementary schools today.

The littles will each be teamed up with a middle-school student who will take them on a tour of the festival, which will feature short skits throughout the day and activities the older students dreamed up, including floor puzzles, fingerprint drawings, matching games and slide shows.

The students have taken their job as hosts very seriously, Blaisdell said.

One boy, working from "There's a Wocket in My Pocket," created cutouts that the elementary students can color and take with them so their own pockets won't be missing their wockets.

Kuba Boyd, 11, was corraling oobleck, which looked rather akin to wet and slimy green goo, in cups to help with the sensory experience of "Bartholomew and the Oobleck." He was up to 88 cups and counting. Meanwhile, as the lead in a short adaptation of "Mr. Brown Can Moo! Can You?" he was demonstrating a variety of impersonations he'll be doing, including a squeaky shoe, a train and, of course, a cow.

Boyd said that other than the Grinch and his mother's attempt at making the aforementioned green eggs at some point in his childhood, he didn't have much familiarity with Seuss before the festival. "The way the books rhyme, that's pretty cool," he said.

Hope Stancliffe, 12, learned to read on "The Foot Book" — not one of his more creative Seuss works, although her mother, Lisa, a medical office worker, said the repetition is important for early readers.

Sunday found the sixth-grader putting presumably-unsolvable knots in the tail of the Crumple-horn, Web-footed, Green-bearded Schlotts, which is part of the you-think-you've-got-it-bad theme from "Did I Ever Tell You How Lucky You Are?" In the skit for that piece, she'll be teaching a made-up language, with a particular focus on the word "blahoo." She hasn't yet settled on a spelling for it, but she's a big fan of the book.

"I think the book is right," Hope said. "You have to appreciate what you have."

The festival will be open to the entire Tucson community from 3:30 to 5 p.m.

"I'm all for anything that makes learning enjoyable, and what I like about Dr. Seuss is he helps kids realize that learning is fun," Blaisdell said. "It doesn't have to be difficult. And meanwhile, he tells life stories through his books that the kids can apply now."

One book, two books.

Three books, four.

Better to read even more, according to Martha Gilliland, executive director of the Literacy for Life Coalition.

Parents ideally should read five books to their preschool-age children every day, she said, and should also set aside quiet time just for reading as the children get older.

On StarNet: Find more coverage of learning and education issues at www.azstarnet.com/education

DID YOU KNOW

• Dr. Seuss' real name was Ted Geisel.

• Seuss was both his middle name and his mother's maiden name.

• He was born on March 2, 1904. At the time of his death in September 1991, 200 million copies of his books, translated into 15 languages, had been sold.

Source: Dr. Seuss Enterprises, seussville.com

IF YOU GO

Seuss Fest

• Where: Townsend Middle School, 2120 N. Beverly Drive

• Who: Free and open to the public

• When: 3:30 to 5 p.m. today

• Why: To celebrate the birthday of Dr. Seuss and Read Across America, middle school students have designed skits and interactive activities for younger children.

The Pima County Public Library

It has events throughout the week to celebrate Seuss' birthday. At Joel D. Valdez Main Library, 101 N. Stone Ave., students can hear favorite stories and rhymes, and make a "Horton Hears a Who" craft to take home. The events run:

• Preschool, Wednesday at 10:30 a.m.

• Toddler, Thursday at 10 a.m.

• Family, Saturday at 11 a.m.

At Kirk-Bear Canyon Branch Library, 8959 E. Tanque Verde Road, a children's librarian will dress as the Cat in the Hat for story time. Bookmarks, stickers and coloring sheets will be distributed.

• Toddler story times are on Tuesday and Wednesday at 10:15 a.m.

• Preschool story times are on Tuesday and Wednesday at 11:15 a.m.