I always knew it as "Dr. Seuss' birthday week" or the week the book fair came to school, AKA the best week in elementary school.

Last week, I learned that the nearly 30-year-old program is called Read Across America, and I got the opportunity to participate as I read one of my favorite childhood books to a class of first-graders at Florence B. Mathis Elementary School.

"Where the Wild Things Are" by Maurice Sendak probably hasn't been read to me since I was in elementary school myself.

I remember how each of my parents were very interactive while reading it to my sisters and I; especially when the Wild Things were speaking.

It wasn't until I got to the iconic "We'll eat you up we love you so" line by the Wild Things that I realized I was reading the book the same way my parents used to.

From pointing out certain parts of the illustrations — which were also done by Maurice Sendak — to the noises for the "wild rumpus," I remembered everything about the way my parents read the book to me in elementary school.

Read Across America is a nationwide, year-round program under the National Education Association (NEA) that works to motivate children and teenagers to read. The program has a big celebration on March 2 and throughout March, which is National Reading Month.

After first and second grade, I started homeschooling, so I can't necessarily say my participation in this program impacted me significantly. But I did participate in this event as a child and — possibly unrelated to that fact — I consider myself a life-long reader.

I participated in just about every summer reading program growing up. A friend and I started a book club in our homeschool group's art history class because we wanted to talk about books with everyone. I'm currently in two and a half monthly book clubs, and I read outside of those as well.

And I remember the Dr. Suess theme tied to the event because my sister and I went as Thing One and Thing Two. We even celebrated in the homeschool group; I remember 10-year-old me dressing up as The Lorax and walking on my knees the entire day.

The NEA's page on the program states, "When people make the time to read with children, children get the message that reading is important."

According to a report titled "Adult Literacy in the United States" by the National Center for Education Statistics, data from 2012 and 2014 show 21% of U.S. adults had difficulty with literacy functions, which the report translated to 43 million U.S. adults with low literacy skills.

Reading to children, and reading in general, should be a year-long, ongoing practice; not just a day/week-long celebration.

Don't know where to get started? Visit your local library and ask for help on picking out a book, which are all free at libraries; register your kids for programs like Dolly Parton's Imagination Library; check out resources provided by organizations like the NEA or local nonprofits like the South Baldwin Literacy Council.

I encourage you to read to children, read to pets, read to plants, or just read to yourself. Become enthusiastic about reading and inspiring the next generation of readers.

You would be surprised how much a kid will remember from a book read to them in elementary school.