The Cat in the Hat and other childrens’ literary icons will once again pay a visit to the Friendly City when the Coleman Center for Families and Children and Petal Excel By 5 take part in Read Across America, a yearly initiative from the National Education Association designed to motivate kids to read and to bring the joys of reading to students of all ages.
This year’s event, which will feature singing and story time, will be held from 10-11 a.m. March 5 at Petal First Baptist Church, 992 Mississippi 42 in Petal.
“Read Across America is really a national celebration with an emphasis on reading and the fun of reading, and we typically celebrate that at the Pre-K level,” said Dede Smith, director of the Coleman Center, which is part of the Petal School District. “It’s just a day set aside to celebrate reading, so hopefully children will read more.
“At the Pre-K level, we involve all of the area childcare centers, and we involve our parents of Pre-K children who visit us here at the center a lot.”
A guest reader will read a selected book to the children, who will be allowed to bring a book home after the event. In addition, administration from Petal Primary School will come out to join the activities.
“That’s one of the highlights, because a lot of these children are 4 (years old), and they will start kindergarten next year at Petal Primary School,” Smith said. “So last year, for example, Mrs. (Ashley) Harvey from the primary school came and read them a story, engaged them in that story, and they loved it.
“We always have the Cat in the Hat, and kids like having their pictures made and posing with the Cat in the Hat. So that’s really what it’s about.”
In addition, Petal Primary School will feature a few events for the kids leading up to the Read Across America event.
“It’s ongoing,” Smith said. “We celebrate not just that one day, but for a few days, we’ll do activities related to celebrations of reading.”
Last year’s event began with Mayor Hal Marx reading a proclamation declaring the day as Read Across America Day in Petal. Following that, the children got the usual visit from the Cat in the Hat, who was portrayed by Debbie Kreiser, a parent educator at The Coleman Center.
For the reading part of the day, Smith read to the students a story from the “Nut Family” series of books while the children acted the tales out along with her. Penny Barr, another parent educator at the Center for Families and Children, then led the children in several different songs related to the “Nut Family” books.
“It was really fun, and the kids really enjoyed it,” Smith said. “We had a really good time.”
