[Congressional Record Volume 150, Number 17 (Wednesday, February 11, 2004)]
[Senate]
[Page S1012]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                         ADDITIONAL STATEMENTS

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                   CELEBRATING THE ``SEUSSENTENNIAL''

 Mrs. BOXER. Mr. President, each year on March 2 thousands of 
schools and millions of children take part in Read Across America, the 
National Education Association's annual celebration of reading and 
literacy. The date is no accident: March 2 is the birthday of Theodor 
Seuss Geisel, better known as Dr. Seuss.
  As much as anyone in the past century, Dr. Seuss helped children 
learn to love reading by making it fun and exciting. In my frequent 
visits to classrooms and afterschool programs, I often read to young 
children, and I have found that Dr. Seuss is their favorite author.
  His books are read and treasured everywhere--particularly in 
California, where he spent most of his adult life. In 1948, he bought 
an old observation tower in La Jolla, CA. For the rest of his life, The 
Tower was his residence and workshop. Every morning, Ted Geisel would 
walk into his studio, lock the door, and become Dr. Seuss. Drawing on 
his extensive collection of hats--inspired by ``The 500 Hats of 
Bartholomew Cubbins''--Dr. Seuss would put on a ``thinking cap'' and 
get to work.
  The books that came out of The Tower--including ``The Cat in the 
Hat,'' ``Green Eggs and Ham,'' ``If I Ran the Zoo,'' ``Horton Hears a 
Who,'' ``And to Think That I Saw It on Mulberry Street,'' ``How the 
Grinch Stole Christmas,'' and ``Oh, the Places You'll Go!''--are among 
the best-known and best-loved classics of children's literature.
  Dr. Seuss inspired Read Across America because he opened the door to 
literacy for generations of children by engaging them with gentle humor 
and fantasy.
  The 2004 Read Across America is extra-special because it is the 
``Seussentennial''--Dr. Seuss's 100th birthday. The celebration has 
already begun in schools and community centers across America, where 
kids are making giant birthday cards, collecting hats, and, of course, 
reading lots of good books.
  As we approach the ``Seussentennial,'' I invite children and grownups 
everywhere to celebrate the joy of reading by honoring a great American 
author and educator, Theodor Seuss Geisel.

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