By Melissa J. Brachfeld

Sentinel Staff Writer

The Cat in the Hat, the crazy, trouble making feline from the imagination of Dr. Seuss, made an appearance at Beltsville Public Library last Thursday morning to celebrate the beloved children's author's birthday.

The party was held in one of the library's multipurpose rooms and was decorated with cuts outs of Thing 1 and Thing 2, characters from "Green Eggs and Ham" and a slew of others. A group of excited, wiggling children gathered with their parents at the feet of library associate Nancy Iliff, who was dressed as the Cat in the Hat from the top of her tall red and white striped hat to the tips of her black socks.

"Who's ready for some fun," she exclaimed. "Well, I hope you're all ready because we are going to have a lot of fun today!"

Iliff launched into story time with "The Cat in the Hat," while library associate Karin Stevens, manning a film projector that displayed Dr. Seuss's colorful illustrations on a screen, assisted her.

After the story, Iliff led the children in singing "Dr. Seuss is on the Loose!" to the tune of "Old McDonald."

"Cats, hats, eggs and ham we love his fun books so!" the group sang.

Following "Green Eggs and Ham" and a round of "Heads, Shoulders, Knees and Toes," Iliff read "Mr. Brown Can Moo, Can You?" This book received the most enthusiastic response from the children who mooed, buzzed, clopped and popped along to the story. Teresa Flores, a 2 year old dressed in a white and violet party dress, was up on her feet, mooing and buzzing the loudest. Some other children followed her example and parents beamed at the excited little girl every time she shouted.

"She's very excitable," her mother, Santos Flores, said.

Iliff closed out story time with "Ten Apples on Top" and then led the children and parents in singing "Happy Birthday" to Dr. Seuss.

Flores said this is the first time she had ever taken Teresa to story time, but that they would be sure to return.

"We want her to listen to stories and love books," she said.

Stephanie Cawthorne, a resident of Beltsville, brought along her two daughters Anna, 4, and Sarah, 2. Sarah sat coloring a picture of the Cat in the Hat, while Anna ran over and plopped down next to her mother, hugging four Dr. Seuss books to her chest. When asked, Anna noted that "The Cat in the Hat" is her favorite Dr. Seuss book and that she had fun during story time.

Iliff said she felt that the program went well and that judging by their enthusiasm, the children enjoyed it as much as she did.

"I'd done a smaller program like this at the Laurel branch and we thought doing a similar program here would be a good way to celebrate Dr. Seuss's birthday," she said.

Theodor Seuss Giesel, a.k.a Dr. Seuss, was born in Springfield, Mass. If he were alive today, he would be 102 years old.

Photo by Marketa Ebert