Dr. Seuss Poster for Read Across America Day

On March 2nd hundreds of schools and libraries will be participating in the national reading program, Read Across America, created by the National Education Association.

Read Across America

Read Across America Day is meant to inspire and encourage students to read. The program first began in 1998 to foster the love of reading among students. Every year sponsors from national nonprofits and associations team up with educators to support the initiative, all with the same goal–inspiring the next generation to fall in love with reading!

The National Education Association chose March 2nd because it is the birthdate of prominent children’s book author Dr. Seuss. This day is also considered Dr. Seuss Day to celebrate Theodor Seuss Geisel’s contributions as a children’s book author.

Dr. Seuss and Cat in the Hat

Theodor Seuss Geisel was born in 1904 in Springfield, Massachusetts. After WWII, Seuss began writing children’s books using the pen name Dr. Seuss. In 1954, Dr. Seuss wrote Cat in the Hat using 236 words deemed most important for first-graders to learn. He was inspired to write Cat in the Hat in response to the Life magazine’s article claiming that children weren’t reading as much because they found most children’s books boring.

As one of the best selling children’s books of all time, Cat in the Hat has sold over 7.2 million copies.