Celebrating Dr. Seuss’ birthday!

Cresco - About once a year, there is a cat that slinks around the halls of Crestwood Elementary. But it’s no ordinary house cat, it is Dr. Seuss’ Cat in the Hat! 

This cat visits all the grades from preschool through sixth grade handing out brand new books to all the kids, thanks to the sponsorship of the PTO. It happened a week ago, on the anniversary of Dr. Seuss’ birthday, March 2.

This is the third year the PTO has given out books— 303 to kids in preschool through third grade and 235 to kids in fourth through sixth. Kelly Olson Jessen, president of the PTO, and Cindy Yslas, redemption coordinator, passed out the books.

 Jessen said, “The upper grade books cost quite a bit more money. We had some groups help us financially with this project.” Organizations helping included Oneota Club, Oak Creek Dental, Mark Anderson Atty., CUSB, Hindt-Hudek, H & S Motors, Aspenson Realty, MiEnergy, Hawkeye Sanitation and CIA Insurance.

“Edna Vandevort is the library associate at Crestwood Elementary, and she has been very vital to this project. She orders all of the books and has been extremely clever and creative at making it a project we can afford to do with titles the older readers really love! The fourth through 

 

sixth graders were able to choose their books ahead of time. 

“I think the most interesting thing about that was this year, when they saw us coming, we could hear them get excited and whisper ‘Our books are coming.’ They sounded as excited as the little ones were to see the cat. 

“I spoke to one fifth grade boy who was so glad about the book he got that he was going to make sure I got to read it after him. He wanted to know who my kid was so he could get it to me.” 

Dr. Seuss (Theodor Seuss Geisel) was an American author and animator best known for writing over 60 children’s books. He was born March 2, 1904 and died Sept. 24, 1991. He is the ninth-best-selling fiction author of all time, with an estimated half-a-billion copies sold.

Geisel had no children of his own, saying of children: “You have ‘em; I'll entertain ‘em.”