“It is fun to have fun, but you have to know how!” said the Cat in the Hat to Sally and her brother.

The world of Dr. Seuss, a.k.a. Theodor Geisel, was celebrated at Boothbay Region Elementary School on March 3, the day after what would have been the author's 110th birthday. The celebration was in conjunction with Read Across America Day. And, just like the first observance, held on March 2, 1998, fun was had by all.

BRES Literary Coordinator Lisa Sharp donned her Cat in the Hat hat as coordinator of Dr. Seuss Day for a second year. Sharp said the event came off “seamlessly,” thanks to the Reading Lab staff members, including Joanne DiMauro, Janice Cotier and Deb Libby, the Dr. Seuss Day/Read Across America “S (for Seuss) Team.”

What did the kids in pre-K through grade 6 enjoy most about the event?

“The kids always like to have guest readers on Dr. Seuss Day; they liked readers who came in costumes and/or who read in silly voices,” Sharp said.

Some classes went all out and wore Cat in the Hat paper hats, munched on Cat in the Hat hat cookies (in Mrs. Maxim's class they were made by Margaret Sledge's mom, Jennifer), reading stories, playing games and learning about Dr. Seuss.

The younger students discovered “Dr. Seuss” was not the author's real name, that he collected hats, and, most interesting of all, that he sometimes shaped his characters out of clay.

The Dr. Seuss book that got the most votes for “best liked Dr. Seuss book” in Mrs. Maxim and Mrs. Crocker's classes was “Green Eggs and Ham.”

Some years teachers have even served green eggs and ham, and the students, just like “Sam I Am,” and the unnamed character in the book, discovered they liked green eggs and ham!

Other favorite Seuss books in both Maxim and Crocker's class were “The Lorax,” “The Foot Book,” “The Cat in the Hat,” “Oh! The Places You'll Go,” “Horton Hears A Who” and “How the Grinch Stole Christmas.”

Students said they liked Dr. Seuss books because of the rhyming, the way Dr. Seuss has fun with words, and the funny characters.

This year 17 guest readers (and Seuss fans), representing all facets of the community, visited elementary school student readers: Millie Santiago, Officer Larry Brown, Holly Stover, AOS 98 Superintendent of Schools Eileen King, Boothbay Town Manager Jim Chaousis, Abbe Levin, Police Chief Bob Hasch, Lisa Kristoff, Sue Burge, Boothbay Region High School Principal Dan Welch, Jane Williams, Sue Norton, Peter Sullivan, Boothbay Harbor Town Manager Tom Woodin, Leisha MacDougall, Peggy Keegan and Jeannie Dotson.

In closing, we would all do well to follow Dr. Seuss' advice: “The more that you read, the more things you will know, The more that you learn, the more places you’ll go.”