A series of family-friendly events planned in San Francisco, San Jose, Oakland and Sausalito, featuring the beloved Dr. Seuss character, the Cat in the Hat

KQED to air The Cat-in-the-Hat-A-Thon on March 2 with two brand new episodes of the acclaimed PBS KIDS series

San Francisco, California, February 15, 2012 – KQED, the public media organization that serves Northern California, joins in the national celebration for “Read Across America” with family-friendly events throughout the Bay Area. Organized by the National Education Association (NEA), this annual reading motivation and awareness program calls for every child in every community to celebrate reading on March 2, the birthday of beloved children's author Dr. Seuss. The Cat in the Hat, the longtime ambassador of Read Across America, will make personal appearances at events presented in collaboration with numerous institutions and schools across the Bay Area.

KQED will also celebrate Dr. Seuss’s birthday with The Cat-in-the-Hat-A-Thon, a two-hour marathon of PBS KIDS’ acclaimed series The Cat in the Hat Knows a Lot About That! featuring two brand new episodes. The marathon will air Friday, March 2 at 8am on KQED 9 with an encore presentation at 10am on KQED Plus. KQED is the national presenting station for The Cat in the Hat Knows a Lot About That!

“KQED is proud of its role as the provider of intelligent, entertaining and diverse kids programming throughout the year,” said KQED Vice President, Television, Michael Isip. “We are thrilled to partner with educational organizations around the Bay Area to make the Cat in the Hat part of this national celebration once again.”

[ad fullwidth]

The Cat in the Hat Knows a Lot About That! has ranked among the top ten programs for children ages 2 to 5 since it premiered on PBS KIDS in September 2010.* The series is a key part of KQED’s and PBS KIDS’ commitment to help kids build critical STEM — science, technology, engineering and math — skills through engaging content across platforms. This year marks the 75^th anniversary of Dr. Seuss’s first children’s book, And to Think That I Saw it on Mulberry Street, and with the March 2nd release of the new feature film Dr. Seuss’ The Lorax, this year’s event promises to be the biggest Seussational celebration yet.

The Cat in the Hat events celebrating “Read Across America” include:

Bay Area Discovery Museum
Wednesday, February 29, 2012, 11:30am–12pm
557 McReynolds Road, Sausalito, CA 94965
Enjoy a special interactive storytime featuring Dr. Seuss books, and get a chance to meet the Cat in the Hat in person. Free with museum admission. (baykidsmuseum.org)

San Francisco Public Library Parkside Branch
Thursday, March 1, 2012, 10–10:30am
1200 Taraval Street, San Francisco, 94116
Join the Cat in the Hat for a storytime to celebrate the birthday of Dr. Seuss with sing-alongs and dancing. Free and open to the public. (sfpl.org/parkside)

San Francisco Public Library Marina Branch
Thursday, March 1, 2012, 6–6:30pm
1890 Chestnut Street, San Francisco, CA 94123
Pajama party storytime to celebrate Dr. Seuss’s Birthday, including a “Happy Birthday” sing-along and coloring activities for the kids. Free and open to the public. (sfpl.org/marina)

San Jose’s San Antonio Elementary School
Friday, March 2, 2012, 7:20–8:15am
1721 E San Antonio Street, San Jose, CA 95116
The Cat in the Hat joins students for breakfast of green eggs and hams and visits classrooms to give out pencils, bookmarks and activity sheets. For San Antonio Elementary School students only.

Oakland’s International Community School
Friday, March 2, 2012, 4-6pm
2825 E. International Blvd., Oakland, CA 94601
The Cat in the Hat makes an appearance at a special pajama party assembly with giveaways and a special raffle of books and PBS KIDS DVDs. For International Community School students only.

San Francisco Public Library Main Branch
Saturday, March 3, 2012, 11–11:30am
100 Larkin St., San Francisco, CA 94102
The Cat in the Hat leads family storytime with activity books, stickers and coloring sheets. Free and open to the public. (www.sfpl.org)

Children’s Discovery Museum of San Jose
Sunday, March 4, 2012, 11am–3pm (first hour for museum members only)
180 Woz Way, San Jose, CA 95110
Meet the Cat in the Hat and share in the joy of reading with a special Dr. Seuss storytime. Included with museum admission. (cdm.org)

About KQED:
KQED (kqed.org) has served Northern California for more than 50 years and is affiliated with NPR and PBS. KQED owns and operates public television stations KQED 9 (San Francisco/Bay Area), KQED Plus (San Jose/Bay Area) and KQET 25 (Watsonville/Monterey); KQED Public Radio (88.5 FM San Francisco and 89.3 FM Sacramento); the interactive platforms kqed.org and KQEDnews.org; and KQED Education. KQED Public Television is the producer of local and national series such as QUEST; Check, Please! Bay Area; This Week in Northern California; Truly CA; and Essential Pépin. KQED’s digital television stations include KQED 9, KQED Plus, KQED Life, KQED World, KQED Kids and KQED V-me, and are available 24/7 on Comcast. KQED Public Radio, home of Forum and The California Report, is one of the most-listened-to public radio stations in the nation with an award-winning news and public affairs program service delivering more than eighteen local weekday newscasts and news features. KQED Interactive provides KQED’s cross-platform news service, KQEDnews.org, as well as several popular local blogs, video and audio podcasts, and a live radio stream at kqed.org. KQED Education brings the impact of KQED to thousands of teachers, students, parents and the general public through workshops, community screenings and multimedia resources.

About PBS KIDS:
PBS KIDS, the number one educational media brand for kids, offers all children the opportunity to explore new ideas and new worlds through television, online and community-based programs. For more information on specific PBS KIDS programs supporting literacy, science, math and more, visit PBS.org/pressroom. Follow PBS KIDS on Twitter and Facebook.

About The Cat in the Hat Knows a Lot About That!
The Cat in the Hat Knows a Lot About That! was created in response to recent findings that children graduating from kindergarten are less prepared to learn about science than about other subjects. The series supports young children’s science learning by introducing scientific inquiry skills, teaching core science concepts and vocabulary, and preparing preschoolers for kindergarten and first grade science curriculum — all in whimsical style.

A team of science and early childhood experts developed the curriculum for the first season’s 40 episodes, each of which begins with a question posed by Sally or Nick. Although the Cat knows a lot of things, his insatiable curiosity to learn more about the world leads to adventures with Sally and Nick in his one-of-a-kind Thinga-ma-jigger, a marvelously Seuss-ian contraption that sprouts wings, pontoons, booster rockets, skis, and just about anything else needed to find the answer. The inquisitive gang travels to the bottom of the sea to observe giant sea worms, zips to the rain forest to visit animals living in Kapok trees, and shrinks to bee-size to visit a hive and learn how honey is made. Guided by the Cat, the kids figure things out by observing, collecting and managing clues, making connections, constructing and evaluating theories, and having discussions – all in a preschool-appropriate manner. Produced by Portfolio Entertainment Inc. and Collingwood O’Hare Productions, in association with Dr. Seuss Enterprises, Random House Children’s Entertainment, Treehouse, and PBS KIDS, The Cat in the Hat Knows a Lot About That! is based on Random House’s bestselling Beginner Book collection, “The Cat in the Hat’s Learning Library.”

About Random House Children’s Entertainment, LLC
Random House Children's Entertainment, a division of Random House Children's Books, is dedicated to expanding the reach of children's stories beyond books to a variety of traditional and new media platforms. Drawing from the rich and varied library of books published by Random House, the company's mission is to create, produce, and distribute quality projects for young people that will educate, enlighten, and entertain. Random House Children's Books is the world's largest English-language children's trade book publisher. Creating books for toddlers through young adult readers, in all formats from board books to activity books to picture books, novels, ebooks and apps, the imprints of Random House Children's Books bring together award-winning authors and illustrators, world-famous franchise characters, and multimillion-copy series. Random House is also the longtime home of the beloved and bestselling Dr. Seuss books which continue to make learning to read fun for millions of children everywhere. Seussville (www.seussville.com)-the official home of Dr. Seuss on the Web-is the place for children of all ages to play and learn with Dr. Seuss's wonderfully whimsical books and classic characters. Random House Children's Books is a division of Random House, Inc., whose parent company is Bertelsmann AG, a leading international media company.

[ad floatright]

**Ratings Source: NTI NPower, PBS KIDS’ Monthly Ranker | September 2010 – December 2011

The Cat in the HatThe Cat in the Hat

KQED Joins in NEA’s National “Read Across America” Celebration

Celebrate Read Across America Day with Dr. Seuss's The Cat in the Hat Knows a Lot About That!