They filed in, one by one, from Central Christian School, looking for some fun.

But wait!

The Cat in The Hat was late!

The librarian, it seems, Cynthia Nall, hadn’t had a fall.

She got the time mixed-up

So the students waited, hoping that she’d bring her pup.

Nall flew in and donning a red-and-white cap,

adopted the persona of the Cat in The Hat.

She read them a Seuss story, that was true,

For on Seuss’ birthday, that was the thing to do!

After the story there was “put the tail on the cat”

and then cake was served with all in party hats.

So a good time was had by all,

And happy birthday Mr. Theodor Seuss Geisel,

And thank you, library staff and Ms. Nall.

ROBERTSDALE, Ala. — Working with around 236 words, Geisel created the “Cat in the Hat” to show that a book for young readers could be fun, entertaining and not what most “readers” were then, boring.

The story, familiar to most, tells what happens when two children inside by themselves on a rainy day, encounter a cat who does not think the rules apply to him or this friends, Thing 1 and Thing 2..

Will the mess be cleaned up before mother gets home? Read the book.

The amusing wordplay and the simple, but effective illustrations have been a favorite since March 1957, and led to a number of books parents have been reading (over and over) to their children since then.

A tradition of having schoolchildren read a Seuss book or be read to by a Dr. Seuss impersonator (Seuss was Geisel’s pen name) on Seuss’ birthday, March 2, has sprung up. If Geisel was alive, he’d be 106. He died in 1991.

The Robertsdale Public library kept up the tradition with two classes of second graders from Central Christian School. There was plenty of fun, as Nall read them “The Cat in the Hat,” and then the youngsters created their own “Cat in the Hat” placements and shared a birthday cake in honor of Dr. Seuss.

“He created rhyming books to help kids learn to read and have fun at the same time. Kids laugh when their parents become tongue tied reading his books.,” said Nall.