Green Celebrities!
Justin Bieber, Michelle Obama and Jessica Alba share Dr. Seuss stories with children for Read Across America 2011 —
[Mar. 7]
It is not Just singer Justin Bieber who got in on the Dr. Seuss birthday action this month. First Lady Michelle Obama seemed to be having a great time as she read the Dr. Seuss classic Green Eggs and Ham to 250 children at the Library of Congress for Read Across America 2011, held Wednesday, March 2. The Read Across America event is in its 14th year and hosted by the National Education Association. It has been held every year on March 2 since its inception, because March 2 is the birthday of the celebrated children’s author Dr. Seuss.
First Lady Michelle Obama was quite animated as she read Green Eggs and Ham, exclaiming to the enraptured first through third graders (all wearing red and white striped hats from another Dr. Seuss classic The Cat in the Hat), “I do not like green eggs and ham!”
The first lady was joined by U.S. Education Secretary Arne Duncan to celebrate the 107th birthday of Dr. Seuss. Joining the first lady and education secretary were costumed representations of The Cat in the Hat himself and Thing One and Thing Two from the story, reports CNN. Mrs. Obama milled through the crowd, hugging children as she went.
Also from CNN:
President Obama issued a proclamation declaring March 2nd Read Across America Day. Mrs. Obama confided to the children that the first family reads all the time. “The president is a reader. We call him the fact-guy because he reads so much. He knows facts about everything,” she said.
And First Lady Michelle Obama wasn’t the only one to read to the children, who came from Washington, D.C., Virgina, and Maryland to attend the event. Mrs. Obama was joined by celebrities, including Fantastic Four star and green celebrity Jessica Alba and Donald Driver of Super Bowl champs, the Green Bay Packers, who read to the children as well.
March 1 also marked a birthday — that of green celebrity Justin Bieber, who perfromed his own reading of The Cat in the Hat back in February. Dr. Seuss’ The Cat in the Hat is Biebs’ favorite childhood storybook. Bieber read the story aloud for Book It!, a reading incentive program sponsored by Pizza Hut. The green celebrity wasn’t as animated as Mrs. Obama, but Justin Bieber did get the jump on her this year.
We’re just happy to see Mrs. Obama and green celebrities like Jessica Alba and Justin Bieber encouraging our children to love reading and learning. It’s a fantastic way to keep up hope for the whole planet. These children are our future, and we hope they have a green and bright future.
Green Celebrity Stats: Green Celebrities
Green celebrity Jessica Alba joined Congresswoman Nita Lowey and green celebrity Bono of U2 last year for the 1GOAL initiative to bring education to African nations, Ghana, Kenya, Senegal, and Mozambique in 2010. Likewise, Justin Bieber recently raised over $37,000 to help provide clean water for such nations, after asking fans to help contribute just $17,000 for the charity.African nations are among the least educated and destitute nations in the world. Michelle Obama has been an advocate for children, promoting health eating habits with the goal of ending the childhood obesity epidemic sweeping the country.