When is doctor seuss week: NATIONAL READ ACROSS AMERICA DAY (DR. SEUSS DAY) – March 2 (If On Weekend, Nearest School Day)

NATIONAL READ ACROSS AMERICA DAY (DR. SEUSS DAY) – March 2 (If On Weekend, Nearest School Day)

NATIONAL READ ACROSS AMERICA DAY (DR. SEUSS DAY)

Each year, National Read Across America Day is celebrated on March 2nd, the birthday of Dr. Seuss. The annual event is part of Read Across America, an initiative on reading created by the National Education Association. Since the event is designed to encourage reading in children and is fostered through the schools, when March 2nd lands on a weekend, the day is observed on the closest school day. 

This motivational and awareness day calls all children and youth in every community across the United States to celebrate reading. It encourages them to read where ever they are. Great ways to inspire reading in children include:

• Keep books everywhere you spend time. Put them in the car, in every room of the house, and tuck them in backpacks and purses. Make them easily accessible. 
• Visit the library often. Knowing how to use the library and learning the benefits of a library fosters a love of reading as well as genuine respect for the services libraries provide.
• Get caught reading. Children imitate what they see the adults around them do. Whether they see you read a magazine, newspaper, or novel, let them know reading is the cool thing to do. 
• Read to your children. No matter their age, reading aloud strengthens their vocabulary and language skills. It also opens up opportunities for discussion. 
• Have your children read to you, too. You never know what you might learn!

HOW TO OBSERVE #ReadAcrossAmericaDay #DrSeussDay

• Pick up an interesting book and read it.
• More importantly, read with a child. 
• Join your library.
• Attend a book reading. 
• Read a book you’ve been meaning to read. 
• Read a book you’ve read before. You may discover that it has a new meaning to you since you last read it.  
• Try reading aloud, even if it is just to yourself. It will make great practice for reading to children. (Hint, hint.)
• Visit the National Day Calendar® Classroom for ways to incorporate National Read Across America Day into your classroom.
• Use #ReadAcrossAmericaDay or #DrSeussDay to post on social media.

For adults, here are a couple of recommendations for books:

• The 3-Minute Rule by Brant Pinvidic.
• Open Secrets of Success: The Gary Tharaldson Story by Patrick McCloskey

NATIONAL READ ACROSS AMERICA DAY HISTORY

The first National Read Across America Day was held on March 2, 1998.

Read Across America FAQ

Q. Where can I find books for Read Across America Day?
A. Books are very accessible today. You can find books at:

• Your local library – A lending library offers more than books. They provide access to music, films, newspapers, and magazines.
• Schools – Similar to a public library, school libraries offer a variety of books and media for students.
• New and used bookstores – If you can’t find what you’re looking for, they may be able to order it for you.
• Neighborhood little libraries – Although they are small, they offer easy access to books for all ages.
• Mobile libraries – These libraries on wheels bring books to your neighborhood on a weekly or monthly basis.
• Online bookstores – These bookstores sell new and used books on every subject.
• Digital books – Many classic books can be found free online.

Q. Who can participate in the day?
A. Anyone! Public figures, schools, parents, students, and organizations all join the celebration with an enthusiasm for reading.

DATES
2022 March 2
2023 March 3
2024 March 1
2025 March 3
2026 March 2
2027 March 2
2028 March 2
2029 March 2

Dr.

Seuss Day in 2022/2023

Held annually on March 2nd, Dr. Seuss Day is a holiday that celebrates the birthday of Theodor Seuss Geisel – otherwise known by the pen name by which he authored children’s books: Dr. Seuss. During the 1990s, the National Education Association advocated for a day to celebrate reading all over the United States. In 1998, it started Read Across America and decided to hold it on the same day as Dr. Seuss’ birthday.

History of Dr. Seuss Day

Theodor Seuss Geisel was born on March 2nd, 1904 in Springfield, Massachusetts in the United States. In 1921, he graduated from high school and enrolled at Dartmouth College. While there, he joined the humor magazine the Dartmouth Jack-O-Lantern and eventually became an editor-in-chief. After he was caught drinking, which was illegal during Prohibition, he was forced to resign from the magazine. However, he decided to keep working for it and instead used the pen name “Seuss.” When he graduated in 1925, he then entered Lincoln College, Oxford to work towards his Ph. D. in English Literature. While at Oxford, he met Helen Palmer a woman who would encourage him to pursue a career in art instead of becoming an English teacher.

During World War 2, Geisel would draw over 400 political cartoons for the New York daily newspaper called PM. These cartoons denounced Hitler and Mussolini and one of them depicted all Japanese Americans as latent traitors. His cartoons were also supportive of the way President Roosevelt managed the war and were especially critical of Congress. Eventually, he would go on to draw posters for the War Production Board and the Treasury Department and then would write films for the United State Army Air Forces.

After the war, he began to write children’s books from his home in La Jolla, California using the pen name Dr. Seuss. Some of the books during this time included If I Ran the Zoo, Horton Hears a Who, If I Ran the Circus , The Cat in the Hat, How the Grinch Stole Christmas and Green Eggs and Ham. In 1954, Dr. Seuss wrote Cat in the Hat using 236 words that were deemed important for first-graders to learn after Life Magazine had reported that children weren’t reading as much because they found most of the children’s books boring.

From 1927 to 1990 he was very active, writing many beloved children’s books. On September 24th, 1991 he would die at the age of 87. However, his legacy would live on. In 2009, the Cat in the Hat sold over 450,000 copies; Green Eggs and Ham sold over 540,000 copies, and One Fish Two Fish Red Fish Blue Fish sold over 400,000 copies. In 1997, the National Education Association wanted a day to celebrate reading and to encourage children to read all over the U.S., so the Read Across America Day was held on March 2nd, 1998. It was set to coincide with the birthday of Dr. Seuss.

Dr. Seuss Day Customs & Traditions

On Dr. Seuss Day it is customary to read a favorite book with your child. It could be one of Dr. Seuss’s books or it could be another children’s book author. The whole point of the day is to engage children in reading and to get them to read on a regular basis.

Where is Dr.

Seuss Day celebrated?

There is no specific location where this holiday is celebrated.

Dr. Seuss and Reading Week

In fact, not only the birthday of the children’s writer Theodor Seuss Geisel, who worked under the pseudonym Dr. Seuss, is celebrated in American schools. Geisel’s birthday is March 2, and depending on what day of the week that date falls, either the next or the previous day is declared Reading Day across America by the National Educational Association. Various events related to this holiday take place throughout the week.

The scale of this holiday can be compared with how Pushkin’s birthday is celebrated in Russia, when attention is paid not only to the poet himself, but also to Russian literature and the Russian language in general. If we imagine that Chukovsky’s birthday would be celebrated in the same way, and invite all children to come to school in galoshes (which the Crocodile loves to eat so much), then it will just turn out to be Dr. Seuss’s week, or Reading Week. nine0003

In 1997, the National Education Association (NEA), which includes millions of employees in educational institutions, launched the idea of ​​celebrating a “reading day”. This initiative received widespread support, and in 1998 the first Reading Day was held across America. Then this day fell on March 2, the birthday of Dr. Seuss, and since then the two holidays have been celebrated together.

The main objective of the “reading holiday” is to draw public attention to the important role that reading plays in children’s and youth education. The PLA even gives small grants to individual states to support reading instruction and to help celebrate the holiday. Almost all elementary schools of the country, libraries and numerous public organizations take part in it in one way or another. This year, 45 million people have reached out to various Reading Week events. nine0003

In practice, it looks like this. One elementary school in our area hosted a “Seuss Night” for kids under 5 and their parents where they all read stories, played games, and made crafts related to the Dr. Seuss stories together. Some schools offer special breakfasts this week with … green scrambled eggs and ham (according to the book “Green scrambled eggs and ham”). The governor of the state went to one of the schools and read to the children Dr. Seuss’s book “Oh, where else will you go!” ( “Oh! The Places You’ll Go” ). The varsity basketball players also went to the schools, reading Seuss’ stories aloud to the children and talking about what books they themselves read and why. Sports in Wisconsin are very popular, and these basketball players for many children are some kind of heroes and role models. Therefore, their interest in books for children is very important.

In general, everyone is working to arouse interest in the very process of reading, which for many primary school children may initially seem like a difficult and boring activity. nine0003

At our school, from Monday to Friday, children also read and discussed books by Dr. Seuss. At the same time, they looked like characters from his books. The schedule was:

Muddled Monday: show up to school in a variety of clothes, sweater inside out, shirt turned inside out, trousers backwards, and so on. Don’t forget to go to the library for Dr. Seuss’s book!

Crazy Wednesday: Wear funny socks or different shoes. Dress up your legs and flaunt them while you relax with a book in the library.” nine0012