Dr. Seuss Enterprises has teamed up with NFL players and Creative Minds Publications to help promote kids’ literacy during Creative Minds’ annual Tackle Reading event.

During the week of March 2 (to coincide with Dr. Seuss’s birthday), current and retired NFL players will head to US schools to read a Dr. Seuss book to an assembly of students. Pro Football Hall of Famer Isaac Bruce is one of the athletes taking part in this year’s event, which will also incorporate motivational messages, NFL mascots and book donations to the schools. 

Dr. Seuss and Creative Minds previously partnered on this event in 2023 and 2024. This will be Tackle Reading’s ninth iteration. Through the event’s history, Creative Minds has worked with NFL athletes representing all 32 teams. 

This year, Creative Minds expects more than 4,000 kids will be part of the events it’s running with Dr. Seuss Enterprises, says Kathryn Stark, founder and CEO of Creative Minds Publications.

As part of a broader literacy push, Dr. Seuss Enterprises has also partnered with Random House Children’s Books to donate a personalized copy of The Cat in the Hat book to every child in the US who shares a March 2 birthday with Dr. Seuss. The campaign is an expanded version of a campaign run last year to give a free book to a child born on March 2, 2024.

Random House Children’s Books is also hosting virtual events in US schools and libraries from March 3 to 7, with authors reading Dr. Seuss stories to kids and running Q&A sessions.