At Columbia Elementary School, kindergartners and families listened to the visiting Cat in the Hat read “Green Eggs and Ham.” CONTRIBUTED/JAMIE HILL

MADISON – Catchy rhymes, read-aloud sessions and interaction with a book-loving, larger-than-life cat gave Madison students a better appreciation for reading during Seuss Week on Feb. 27 through March 3.

Each year, Madison students celebrate the birthday of Dr. Seuss (author Theodor Seuss Geigel) with book- and reading-related ideas to underscore the value of literacy. Read Across America is observed annually on Dr. Seuss’s birthday.

At West Madison Elementary School, enrichment specialist Wendy Tibbs coordinated the Dr. Seuss Cafe in the library. Student wrote book requests on order tickets, which they placed on a carousel for service.

‘Chefs’ sent the requested book out on a tray, and ‘waiters’ delivered the order to the appropriate table. Tibbs’ West Madison third-graders then read the book to a kindergartner or first-grader.

West Madison teachers also staged face painting, a class photo and Dr. Seuss games. Volunteers from Target provided special gifts for each child and helped with activities.

In other observances by Madison schools, Columbia Elementary School celebrated Seuss Week with theme days. Feb. 27 was deemed as Pajama Day to coincide with readings of “I Am Not Going to Get Up Today.” That evening, students and their families returned to campus for “Family Night at the Book Fair.”

Students dressed in clothes that depicted a word for “Word Day” on March 1, when the featured book was “I Can Read With My Eyes Shut.” Seuss’ actual birthday is on March 2, so that day Columbia classes read “Green Eggs and Ham.” Animal print was the clothing theme on March 3 for readings of “If I Ran the Zoo.”

Madison Elementary School joined in Seuss activities. Nikki Griffin’s and Casey Cotton’s class had a fun time reading together in an exercise called “buddy classes.” Renae Yancey’s fifth-graders read with Kimberly Marrazzo’s kindergarten class for Read Across America week.

Also at Madison elementary, Emily Mordecai’s kindergarten class and Shannon Lilienthal’s sixth-grade class enjoyed buddy reading in their pajamas.