First lady shares spotlight with Seuss

Alabama First Lady Dianne Bentley was the guest reader in the Reading Across America event at Pike Liberal Arts School on Monday.

March 2, the birthday of Theodor “Dr. Seuss” Geisel, American writer, poet and cartoonist, has been adopted as the annual date for National Read Across America Day, which is an initiative on reading created by the National Education Association.

On Monday, Alabama’s First Lady rivaled Dr. Seuss for the spotlight.

Becky Baggett, assistant headmaster, said Pike Liberal Arts School’s faculty and student body were honored to have the First Lady visit. And, the young students were excited that such an important person would take time from her busy schedule to read to them.

Bentley said as a child, her favorite books were those orange-backed, boyhood biographies of famous people. However, in reading to her four sons as they were growing up, she learned to enjoy and appreciate the Dr. Seuss books.

Bentley said Dr. Seuss books, with their weird characters, funny rhymes and zany pictures encourage children to read.

“With as many distractions we have today, we need Dr. Seuss books that are fun to read and encouragement to our children,” she said. “I enjoy sharing these stories with young people, including my seven granddaughters.”

The First Lady chose one of her favorite Dr. Seuss books, “One Fish, Two Fish, Red Fish, Blue Fish” to read to the PLAS kindergarten students.

The children laughed at the funny story and were amused by the Dr. Seuss quilt the First Lady had quilted.

“Quilting was my hobby until I became First Lady,” she said. “But I found this Dr. Seuss pattern and decided to quilt it because it has all of Dr. Seuss’ books on it. You can look at the quilt and pick out your favorite Dr. Seuss book.”

Bentley took the opportunity of talking to young students to tell them about her favorite state, Alabama, and her life as Alabama’s First Lady. “I’m Alabama’s First Lady because I am married to Alabama’s governor, Robert Bentley,” she told the students. “We live in a house called a mansion. It’s 107 years old. But, it’s not our house. It belongs to you, to those who pay taxes in Alabama. The state just lets us live in it.”

The First Lady told the students about the state bird, the Yellowhammer; the state butterfly, the Eastern Tiger Swallowtail; the state flower, the Camellia; the state fruit, the blackberry; and the state mammal, the black bear.

She told the students about the state publication, “Alabama Road Trips” and about the many wonderful places to visit in her favorite state. Alabama’s First Lady said she enjoys reading to young people and looks forward to Dr. Seuss’ birthday because she gets to share the fun of reading with young Alabamians.