The National Education Association's (NEA) Read Across America Day is an annual reading motivation and awareness program that calls for every child in every community to celebrate reading on March 2, the birthday of beloved children's author Dr. Seuss. Motivating children to read is an important factor in student achievement and creating lifelong successful readers. Research has shown that children who are motivated and spend more time reading do better in school.
In May 1997, a small reading task force at NEA came up with a big idea. "Let's create a day to celebrate reading," the group decided. "We hold pep rallies to get kids excited about football. We assemble to remember that Character Counts. Why don't we do something to get kids excited about reading? We'll call it 'NEA's Read Across America' and we'll celebrate it on Dr. Seuss's birthday." And so was born on March 2, 1998, the largest celebration of reading this country has ever seen, according to the
NEA Web site.
Excerpts from Dr. Seuss’ biography on the NEA Web site:
“A person's a person, no matter how small," Theodor Geisel, a.k.a. Dr. Seuss, would say. "Children want the same things we want. To laugh, to be challenged, to be entertained and delighted."
Dr. Seuss was born Theodor Geisel in Massachusetts on March 2, 1904. Geisel developed the idea for his first children's book in 1936 while on a vacation cruise. The rhythm of the ship's engine drove the cadence to And to Think That I Saw It on Mulberry Street. During World War II, Geisel joined the Army and was sent to Hollywood where he wrote documentaries for the military. During this time, he also created a cartoon called Gerald McBoing-Boing, which won him an Oscar.
In May of 1954, Life magazine published a report on illiteracy among schoolchildren, suggesting that children were having trouble reading because their books were boring. This problem inspired Geisel's publisher, prompting him to send Geisel a list of 400 words he felt were important for children to learn. The publisher asked Geisel to cut the list to 250 words and use them to write an entertaining children's book. Nine months later, Geisel, using 220 of the words given to him, published The Cat in the Hat, which brought instant success.
Winner of the Pulitzer Prize in 1984 and three Academy Awards, Geisel authored and illustrated 44 children's books. His enchanting stories are available as audiocassettes, animated television specials and videos. While Theodor Geisel died on September 24, 1991, Dr. Seuss lives on, inspiring generations of children of all ages to explore the joys of reading. (Courtesy of Random House.)