The National Education Association celebrates Read Across America annually on Dr. Seuss’s birthday, March 2, but the local elementary schools are celebrating all this week.

Today, the kids started the program with a reading of The Lorax, by Dr. Seuss, and at random intervals throughout the day, they had to DEAR: Drop Everything and Read.

Part of the fun was loudly dropping one’s pencil on the desk to clatter, and scootching out your chair to go find a book.

(Personally, I would love it if the boss called out intervals of “DEAR” at work on occasion. I think it would make the work day much more relaxed.)

I’ve been invited to read to a class of first graders tomorrow. I’m so excited!

I was asked to read my favorite children’s book, which, unfortunately is probably too long and too scary, for first graders. I speak of Patricia Coffin’s The Gruesome Green Witch. It’s a treasure unto itself: written and illustrated in green ink.

Instead I’ve chosen to read Mike Mulligan and His Steam Shovel, written and illustrated by Virginia Lee Burton.

Had I thought about it longer, I might have read, Ferdinand, by Munroe Leaf. I adore this story.

I love them both, so I’m equally pleased to read one or the other.

Do you have a favorite book? Do you ever DEAR? Do tell!

(And just for completeness’ sake, here’s the cover of Patricia Coffin’s The Gruesome Green Witch.)