FILE NUMBER........

Whereas, Theodor Seuss Geisel was born on March 2, 1904, in

Springfield, Massachusetts; and

Whereas, Theodor Seuss Geisel graduated from Dartmouth College in

1925 and began writing humorous articles and creating cartoons for various

magazines; and

Whereas, His first children’s book, And to Think That I Saw It on

Mulberry Street, was rejected by 43 publishers until, in 1937, a friend

published the book for him; and

Whereas, In May of 1954, Life magazine published a report

concerning illiteracy among school children, stating that, among other

things, children were having trouble learning to read because the books

were boring; and

Whereas, This comment inspired Theodor Seuss Geisel’s publisher,

Bennett Cerf, to compile a list of 400 words that he felt were important,

asking Mr. Geisel to cut the list to 250 words, the amount of words a first

grader could absorb, and using only those words to write a book that would

excite children; and

Whereas, Nine months later, Mr. Geisel, using 220 of the words given

to him, published The Cat in the Hat, which became an instant success; and

Whereas, Later in 1960, Bennett Cerf bet Mr. Geisel $50 that he

couldn’t write an entire book using only 50 words and from that challenge

came the famous children’s book, Green Eggs and Ham, which also

became an instant success; and

Whereas, From that point on, Theodor Seuss Geisel became known as

"Dr. Seuss," and children became enthused about reading every Dr. Seuss

book available; and

Whereas, Dr. Seuss died on September 24, 1991, but his legacy of

children’s books will live forever as an inspiration to children everywhere

to learn to read and to share in the laughter, enjoyment and knowledge that

a book can provide; and

Whereas, In honor of Dr. Seuss and the joy of reading, the National

Education Association has designated March 2, 1999, as "Read Across

America" day and has called upon every child to read with a caring adult

on this day in honor of what would have been Dr. Seuss’s 95th birthday;

now, therefore, be it

Resolved by the Assembly of the State of Nevada, the Senate

Concurring, That March 2, 1999, is hereby recognized as "Read Across

America" Day in Nevada in commemoration of Dr. Seuss’s birthday; and

be it further

Resolved, That children and adults are encouraged to read a favorite

book together on this date to share the joy of reading; and be it further

Resolved, That the Chief Clerk of the Assembly prepare and transmit a

copy of this resolution to Elaine Lancaster, President of the Nevada State

Education Association, and Ken Lange, Executive Director of the Nevada

State Education Association.

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