Reading program focuses on Dr. Seuss

The Cat in the Hat is back.

This year, both United Way of Chattanooga and Cleveland State Community College are participating in the National Education Association's Read Across America, a celebration of literacy and of author Theodore Seuss Geisel, better known as Dr. Seuss.

"Children love the rhyming of his work," said Suzanne Wood, coordinator of early childhood education at Cleveland State. "He's fun. One of his original challenges was to write a more interesting book than the Dick and Jane series that everybody read."

The playful nature and unique characters are also of great appeal, she said.

All week, United Way has hosted local celebrities at Hamilton Place mall to read selections of Seuss' work.

A local organization or nonprofit group, such as Creative Discovery Museum, has also been on hand to share an activity.

Today, Chattanooga Mayor Ron Littlefield and state Sen. Andy Berke will be among the readers. "The Cat in the Hat" will be among the books read, along with titles of the readers' choosing. The other books are a surprise, according to Kelley Nave, public relations director for United Way.

The celebration in Chattanooga will also include a birthday party for Dr. Seuss. Arts and crafts activities will be available for children, featuring make-your-own Cat-style hat. The Cat himself also will be on hand to greet visitors.

Making a hat also will be among the activities at the Cleveland State celebration.

At that celebration, children can visit one of three reading areas, write letters to Dr. Seuss, have their faces painted and more.

Now in its ninth year, the event has grown from 50 children to about 800, said Wood, whose students are involved in planning the event.

At Hamilton Place, ages-and-stages learning checkups will be available for children as old as 6.

"A learning checkup is a way for parents to check to see if their child is on track, developmentally, for the right age stage that they are," Nave said.

The learning checkups have helped to diagnose autism spectrum disorders, Nave said, as well as indicate easily solvable, environmentally motivated developmental delays. She told of one child who had not achieved a developmental checkpoint -- using scissors -- because an overly cautious mother had never taught her child to use them, even safety scissors.

Each child who gets a learning checkup will receive a free family pass to the Creative Discovery Museum.

The Kiwanis clubs of Chattanooga and Cleveland have donated books to both United Way and Cleveland State, so children attending either celebration will have the opportunity to receive a Dr. Seuss book.

Seuss' books can appeal to all ages, Wood said. "Some of his books have very adult-type messages. He was way ahead of his time."

She cited "The Lorax," the movie version of which opened in theaters on Friday. Visitors to Cleveland State will have an opportunity to win a ticket to see the film.

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