Seuss fosters interest in reading

The celebration for Dr. Seuss' birthday at the City Library was the culmination of two weeks of waiting for Connor Campbell, 8.

Connor's mother, Stacei Campbell, said she has been reading Dr. Seuss books to her son since he was born. When he was little, she would read him to sleep with Dr. Seuss. His performance in school has been enhanced and improved because of the contact with the stories. When his mother found out about the celebration, she knew it was a must-attend for her son.

"For the last two weeks he keeps asking if it's time to go," Stacei Campbell said with a smile, noting that the "Cat in the Hat" is his favorite book, especially when Thing 1 and Thing 2 and little cats A-Z come out to clean up.

The Salt Lake County Library held its annual celebration for Dr. Seuss' birthday at all of its Salt Lake City locations March 4 from 10-11 a.m. The event included games, snacks, stories and crafts. Part of the reason the library chooses to hold the event each year is to increase interest in reading.

"We do it here at the library to encourage kids to (learn about) books and reading," said Patty Steed, assistant manager in the Children's Section. "That's what Dr. Seuss was about — encouraging kids to read."

The library staff tries to choose games each year based on characters from the books such as Pin the Tie on the Cat in the Hat, McElligot's Pool where children could fish for a whistle, Batholomew's Hat where children knocked a stack of hats off a table with a bean bag and Hop on Pop, which allowed children to jump on a mattress.

Paul Mussler, associate librarian, said it's hard to tell if the event increases interest in the books since there have been several movies made about the books over the past few years, but the stories do seem to disappear from the library shelves.

"I think it's neat to see kids get excited about books," Mussler said. "So often you see kids just wanting to play the computer and not read books."

Coming to the event was an opportunity for Clarisa Mostafa, who recently moved to Salt Lake City with her family, to bring her children, Sophia, 5, and Matias, 3, and husband to see the City Library.

"This is the first time we've been to the Salt Lake City Library," she said. "This is an amazing, beautiful library."