Dr. Seuss serves as an iconic American children’s author, best known for his books, “The Cat in the Hat,” “How the Grinch Stole Christmas!” and “Green Eggs and Ham.”

Seuss published more than 60 books. The National Education Association adopted his birthday, March 2, as National Read Across America Day, an initiative created to spread the joy of reading to children and young adults.

Brookhaven Elementary School celebrated Read Across America with a week packed full of activities pertaining to Seuss’ books. Wednesday’s celebration included classroom readings by several community leaders.

“Wednesday, March 2 is Dr. Seuss’s birthday so we wanted to celebrate Read Across America by having community leaders come into our school and read books to our children. We love reading. Reading is very important, so we are excited that they were all able to come and the students loved it,” assistant teacher Christy Sheppard said.

Mayor Joe Cox and his wife, Angie Cox, attended the event. They read “And to Think That I Saw It on Mulberry Street” and “The Big Brag” to Olivia Brister’s fourth grade class.

Brister said her children have been looking forward to the event for days.

“They very much enjoyed it,” Brister said. “They love reading and for the mayor and Mrs. Cox to come by, we really appreciated it.”

Angie Cox said she enjoys reading and educating the minds of children.

“Reading Across America is a celebration of Dr. Seuss,” she said. “Reading is an adventure that takes you where you want to go. Children need to see everyone read. It’s nice to come do this and hear a story through the eyes of a child.”

“I think we enjoy coming and reading to them as much as they like us visiting,” Mayor Cox said.