Healdsburg schools ‘Seussified’ on ‘National Read Across America Day’

It was Dr. Seuss' birthday, you see.

Healdsburg Elementary School librarian Greta Mesics was a busy bee, setting out Dr. Seuss books for kids to read:

“The Lorax.”

“Fox in Socks.”

“Hop on Pop.”

In the cafeteria, Kathy White and the rest of the food service team whipped up a special feast. Made up of fresh fruit and vegetables and scrambled green eggs and ham, it was enough to satisfy even the hungriest beast.

“We even have goldfish,” White said, referring to the small pouches of crackers selected as the lunchtime snack - in honor of Dr. Seuss' book “One Fish, Two Fish, Red Fish, Blue Fish.”

The K-2 campus, which also includes Healdsburg Charter School, was “Seussified” in time for Thursday's birthday bash for the late Theodor Seuss Geisel, better known to the children as Dr. Seuss. The celebration was part of National Read Across America Day, held every March 2 on Seuss' birthday.

Besides the special lunch, halls were decorated with colorful feathered boas and large colorful tissue-paper truffula trees, featured in “The Lorax,” as well as red-and-white striped hats from “The Cat in the Hat.”

“Everybody just got into the spirit, making this a magical place for our students,” Principal Stephanie Feith said.

The transformation started a couple of weeks ago. Feith said staff, teachers and parents pitched in to decorate the school.

The students put up their artwork all along the halls. They drew pictures of the Lorax and wildly colored fox socks. Using their handprints, the students also made images of Thing One and Thing Two, which were displayed along the walls in the school's kindergarten wing.

Students are excited to come to school, Feith said. So is the staff.

“Even the adults are rediscovering their love for Dr. Seuss,” Feith said.

Kindergarten teacher Emily Peterson came to school on Thursday dressed in Thing One character pajamas. Her shirt read: Teacher of All Things.

Her 21 students were encouraged to wear their pajamas and Thing One-themed hats they made out of construction paper for the Read Across America bash.

Considered the largest reading celebration in the country, the event was launched 20 years ago at schools, libraries, churches and community centers across the country by the National Education Association to encourage children to pick up books.

Other schools in Sonoma County held similar celebrations Thursday.

“I always loved Dr. Seuss because of the themes, the characters and the rhyming,” Peterson said.

For the past two weeks, her class had been focusing on reading Dr. Seuss books. They spent Thursday morning writing letters to Dr. Seuss. Some discussed their favorite books.

Nova Thapa, 6, said her favorite books are “The Cat in the Hat,” “Green Eggs and Ham” and “I Wish That I Had Duck Feet.” Asked why she loved the books so much, she said “because there is rhyming words in them.”

Her classmate, Cylas Wagner, 5, also liked “The Cat in the Hat” and “One Fish, Two Fish, Red Fish, Blue Fish.”

“They're funny. I like funny things,” said Cylas, who wished Dr. Seuss a happy birthday.

“Dr. Seuss is our favorite,” said Mesics, who was playing tunes in the library from “Seussical,” the musical. “I can't keep the Dr. Seuss books on the shelf.”

“Green Eggs and Ham” is the most popular book at the library, said Mesics, who was dressed as Cat in the Hat. It's checked out hundreds of times a year.

“There is not a week that goes by that someone isn't checking it out or asking about it. The kids love it,” said Mesics, who, like Seuss, attended Dartmouth College in New Hampshire.

“I wasn't there when he was there,” she quickly pointed out, with a big grin on her face. When she tells students she hailed from the same alma mater as the late Seuss, who would have turned 113 years old, they often ask if she knew him personally, she said.

Seuss's rhyming speaks to students, even to those who are just learning English, Mesics said. Guests from the community were invited to the school to read their favorite Dr. Seuss book, including in Spanish.

About three-quarters of the 316 students in the elementary and charter schools are Latino, Feith said. Many of them come from Spanish-speaking homes.

Healdsburg Education Foundation executive director Joaquin Blanco-Pelucarte picked the Spanish translation of “The Cat in the Hat” to read to about two dozen first-graders in Abigail LaMothe's class. All of her students were bilingual, she said.

The parent-teacher organization planned to conclude Thursday's bash with a book swap later in the evening, giving students the opportunity to pick their favorite titles from piles of donated books. Peterson planned to help children there make bookmarks and other crafts.

“What a fantastic event to share the love of reading,” Peterson said.

You can reach Staff Writer Eloísa Ruano González at 707-521-5458.