By Tim Leeds
Sunnyside Elementary School students were busy all week celebrating the 97th birthday of Theodore Seuss Geisel, also known as Dr. Seuss.
Each class made a project based on one of Dr. Seuss' books, including such favorites as "The Foot Book" and "There's a Wocket in My Pocket." Those projects were displayed in the library.
Students from Vicki Hilliard's third-grade class read trivia questions over the public address system throughout the week, with prizes awarded to any students who could answer correctly. Hilliard said the questions were riddles about Seuss characters, and they had to identify the character to win. There was also a poster in the hallway where students could enter a drawing with correct identification of Dr. Seuss characters on the poster.
Thursday was a teacher reading exchange day, where teachers went and read to other teacher's classes.
Hilliard's class also ran a "book walk" in the library today, where students stepped on pieces of paper on the floor to music, then stopped then the music stopped. Some of the papers showed the covers of Seuss books, and any younger child stopping on a book won a prize. The older students had to identify the books they were on to win a prize.
There were more special events for today, with the Cat in the Hat himself coming in to serve birthday cake during the lunch hour, and students from the S.U.N.S. (Students United for New Successes) alternative high school coming in to read to the students.
Yesterday was actually Geisel's birthday. Born on March 2, 1904, Geisel published his first children's book, "And to Think I Saw It on Mulberry Street" in 1936. Geisel used 220 of 400 words his publisher told him he felt were important for children to read to write "The Cat in the Hat."
Geisel wrote and illustrated 44 children's books before his death in 1991. He won the Pulitzer Prize in 1984 and also won three Academy Awards.
