Dr. Seuss’ most famous characters spent Saturday working to increase literacy at the James Weldon Johnson Branch Library.
The library hosted a literacy event as part of St. Petersburg’s SunLit Festival, which runs from March 4-16 with over 40 events.
As part of the SunLit Festival, event tables were set up outside the Johnson Branch Library with free books for students to take home.
More than 25 tables from various organizations dotted the lawn behind the library.
Kids played in the inflatable bounce house, watched a police canine performance, had their faces painted and took pictures with The Cat in The Hat, Thing 1 and Thing 2.
The festival was presented by a collective group of community sponsors called Friends of the Johnson Library, which donated books for the children.
During the event, local artist Ya La’ford painted the art installation “GREENtrance,” which covered the front of the library’s entrance.
The artwork features a dark green background overlaid with intertwining, metallic gold lines. La’ford said the lines represent relationships within a community.
At the event, Kids were invited to join La’ford and be a part of the artistic process. Many chose a stencil and painted inspirational words like dream, smile and read onto the mural.
“When a kid walks through a space like this – they haven’t yet seen the bigger picture of fine art,” said La’ford.
“They get to have it in their own town, in their own space, in their own library.”
Visit sunlitfestival.blogspot.com for updates and information about upcoming events.
