DR. SEUSS COMES ALIVE IN READING PROGRAMS
Kids know that when it comes to reading, the Cat in the Hat knows a lot about that.
Bringing his “fun that is funny” to classrooms across Houston, Main Street Theater (MST) celebrated Read Across America Day on March 2 by kicking off a month of virtual performances by the mischievous, rhyming feline.
Also referred to as Dr. Seuss Day, Read Across America Day honors the birthday of children’s author Theodor Seuss Geisel.
Kids are enthusiastic to meet “a beloved character that they know so well,” says Vivienne M. St. John, Theater for Youth artistic director at MST, which has staged productions of “The Cat in the Hat” in the past.
“They think he’s silly, they just get very excited,” she says.
Taped on stage at Midtown Arts & Theater Center Houston (MATCH) using the performing arts group’s set, the free recording is available to schools through March by request at mainstreettheater.com.
In the 30-minute performance, actor Prince Nnaji engages kids by reciting the familiar stanzas about what happens on a boring, rainy day when mom is away.
St. John says the show, which features Nnaji contorting his body into the shape of an ostrich or into a chair and bouncing balls onto walls, helps kids “imagine when they’re just reading a book what it would be like if they could bring it to life.”
She hopes the performance inspires kids to read more often.
“They can see the page come to the stage and come to life for them,” she says, “because the character is very physical.”
Nnaji pretends to make items with his hands and invites the audience to guess what they are, using an animated voice and Dr. Seuss’ signature style.
“He makes up a lot of silly words, and I think that they find that funny because they don’t make any sense, and he uses a lot of rhyming words that they identify with, too,” St. John says.
“Both of those are things that kids just really grasp on to.”
At the Children’s Museum of Houston, which remains closed due to the health crisis, literacy promoting activities inspired by Dr. Seuss are online this year (youtube.com/user/ childrens museum hou ).
The public can access Dr. Seuss storytimes in English and in Spanish, along with hands-on art and science activities.
In one, the museum’s Jason Hammond shows kids how to use packing peanuts to make a whimsical, topsy-turvy structure one might find in Dr. Seuss’ fantastical settings.
“His art and language resonate because both are playful,” says Hammond. “When you look at the page, you instinctively know what’s going on, even before hearing the words.”
Hammond says the first Dr. Seuss book read to him as a child was “The Lorax,” and his favorite title is “Oh, The Places You’ll Go!”
“It’s a book I still read today to remind me that no matter what obstacles get in my way, I’m a unique human having a unique life journey,” he says.
In another video, kids learn how to make a Thing 1 and Thing 2 hat using construction paper.
Hammond, who is a lifelong Dr. Seuss fan, says the museum’s colorful Kidtropolis zone “seems like a place where The Cat in the Hat and Horton would hang out and cause a little mischief.”
Also in celebration of Read Across America Day, local nonprofit Literacy Now hosted the first Houston Reads Day.
During the event, 400 volunteers read remotely to Houston ISD students at 25 elementary school campuses. Volunteers included city officials, local authors April Salazar and J. Elle, and Texans mascot Toro.
The new annual initiative encourages adults to spend time daily reading aloud to children.
Through its outreach programs, Literacy Now donates about 1,000 books to families in Houston each month.
Members of the public can apply to become a mentor in Literacy Now’s Lunch Bunch, a program that pairs volunteers with elementary students in a weekly, virtual, small group setting to build literacy skills (literacynowhouston.org).