During Dr. Seuss Week 2012, students read “The Cat in the Hat.” (CONTRIBUTED)

MADISON – Dr. Seuss Week is underway in Madison elementary schools with reading starring as the main character.

“Motivating children to read is important for students to achieve successfully and create lifelong readers,” Dr. Lydia Davenport, principal at Heritage Elementary School, said. “If a child cannot read by third grade, they are six times more likely not to graduate from high school.”

That daunting fact concerns Davenport as an educator and student advocate. “We need heroes like Dr. Seuss (Theodor Seuss Geisel) to help us spark an interest in reading and make reading enjoyable and fun,” Davenport said.

Dr. Daphne Jah, principal at West Madison Elementary School, considers Dr. Seuss as a wonderful children’s author whose books are loved by adults and children alike. Even fifth- and sixth-graders continue to read his work.

Repetitive books like “The Cat in the Hat” and “Green Eggs and Ham” are excellent reading tools, Jah said. The past two years, West Madison sixth-graders have been reading “Who Was Dr. Seuss?” with interesting facts about Geisel’s life.

Learning to read well is vitally important for children to both seek information and receive pleasure the rest of their lives, Jah said. West Madison emphasizes reading by participating in the Accelerated Reader (AR) program.

Most Madison elementaries have chosen a weekly theme. At West Madison, it’s “Reading is our Thing.” Guest readers visited kindergartners and first-graders on Feb. 25. During the week, all students wore some”thing” silly as headgear and footwear.

At the Seuss Cafe, ‘diners’ ordered from menus, while other students ‘served’ the books. When children performed some”thing” nice for others, teachers submitted these acts of kindness in the library’s collection box. Librarians collected “things” for the Asbury Community Thrift Store.

On March 1, West Madison participated in AR’s “Read the Most From Coast to Coast” contest by reading books and then taking comprehension tests. “Our students will read and take as many AR tests as they can. We’re so excited to complete this challenge,” Jah said.