Yesterday was both Read Across America and the kick-off of a week-long celebration of Dr. Seuss’ birthday on PBS Kids, which started with a new one-hour special “The Cat in the Hat Knows A lot About That.” The “Cat-ebration” continues all week with new half-hour episodes following the Cat, Nick and Sally on their adventures on PBS Kids.
“As children across the U.S. celebrate Dr. Seuss’ birthday this March, PBS KIDS is proud to join the festivities with new adventures from one of his most iconic characters: the Cat in the Hat,” said Lesli Rotenberg, General Manager, Children’s Programming, PBS. “Through ‘Dr. Seuss’ Birthday Cat-ebration,’ we hope to inspire kids and stimulate their imaginations with a week of natural science exploration.”
Rotenberg added: “In this special multiplatform event, families will join the Cat, Nick and Sally as they journey to zany Seussian places — from the Grassy-Grove-Dell to Feathery Flats — and learn from their quirky animal friends, such as Bugsy the Beetle, Sharky McGee and Greg the Gecko.”
We were originally going to celebrate with my youngest son’s kindergarten pals at school, but due to the Snow Day, we had the little party at home. My 5-year-old son and my 9-year-old daughter gathered most of our Dr. Seuss books and placed them on our easel (middle photo above). My daughter also wrote the titles on the chalkboard and read from most of them. Her all-time Dr. Seuss book is “The Lorax,” but she said she also likes “Green Eggs and Ham” as well as “Horton Hears a Who.” She even wrote “Happy birthday to you” under the list of books.
The kids worked their way through an activity book, taking time to draw self portraits on the “You Are Special, Yes You Are!” page. Both of them love to illustrate and draw, so it was exciting to see how detailed their self portraits were — can you see my daughter’s scarf and the octopus on my son’s shirt?
My girl loves temporary tattoos, so she and I got matching ones on our hands. Then all three of us had cupcakes and proceeded to read Dr. Seuss books. We also collected a large bag of books to donate to our favorite charity, A Wider Circle, which helps families in need outfit their homes not just with necessities like furniture and appliances but with books and toys and school supplies — everything they need. We love that our new and like-new books will go to a family that really needs them!
If you want to continue to celebrate Dr. Seuss’ birthday with your devices, PBS Kids is also happy to announce a new mobile-friendly game: “Marbleous Marvel Coaster.” Available at pbskids.org/catinthehat, “Marbleous Marvel Coaster” allows kids to create their own Seussian rollercoasters using open-ended play and engineering skills.
Many thanks to PBS Kids for providing us with the materials for the party. No compensation was provided, but I am a PBS VIP (Very Involved Parent).
The Editor of The DC Moms, Sandie blogs about Young Adult literature at Teen Lit Rocks and reviews movies and books at Common Sense Media.
