Dr. Seuss’s birthday was on March 2, and local children celebrated it with a half hour of reading, dancing, and singing at Smithfield’s youth center.

Karen Bowling, the children’s librarian at Smithfield’s library, helped to organize the event, which happens annually. She said, “It’s the spirit of Dr. Seuss that we celebrate. He’s kind of the pioneer of children’s books. He made (reading) fun and he made it nonsensical.”

Greeted by balloons and the Cat in the Hat, played by Arnold Neilson of the Library Board, children and their families were ushered into the center where they could enter a drawing for prizes and sit down to a few stories and musical numbers. Many children wore costumes to celebrate the occasion.

Marcie Greenmun, a mother of two, has attended the event twice now. She said she brings her kids because “it makes reading fun and it will help them be excited about reading.”

After a quick introduction to Dr. Seuss and after singing Happy Birthday to him, families were treated to “Somewhere over the Rainbow” sung by Azure Kline, who played Dorothy in the Sky High Players’ Wizard of Oz. Following Kline, families sat down to a reading of Seuss’s “The Pale Green Pants” by Mary Ellen Thomas.

After a presentation of “Elephants Can’t Dance” and a reading of “Pete the Cat,” names were drawn from a bag and Dr. Seuss books and stuffed animals were given to each child whose name was called.

Kiley Fisher, a volunteer at the event, helped to put together prizes and set up the gym in preparation. She said, “I liked being able to see all the kids and to see how much they enjoyed it.”

Not every child won a prize, but every child went home with a free book provided by Scholastic. Many children took time to sit down and look through their new books before leaving.

Bowling said the goal of the event is to get children motivated to keep reading. Doing events like this, she said, is a way to make books and reading accessible to children, and ultimately, to foster a love of reading throughout their lifetime.

Rome, one of Greenmun’s children, said of the event overall, “It was pretty cool.” Many of the children’s’ thoughts echoed his.