The Cat in the Hat, also known as Barbara Bryant, strode into a classroom at Lucian Adams Elementary School, sat down with a book and began to read the Dr. Seuss classic “Are You My Mother?”

Somewhere along the line she needed some help so two students took over reading the tale of a hatchling bird looking for its mother.

The classroom was decked out with 3D cutouts and drawings and decorations of Dr. Seuss characters; Horton, The Grinch, and Thing One and Thing Two were just some that were drawn and constructed by AARP Experience Corps volunteer Rosa Guidry.

“It’s just discarded cardboard from a furniture store,” Guidry said on Tuesday as she showed the back of the Horton drawing. “Their reaction is wow. This is a fantasy works where they can be a child a little bit longer… a chance to walk into a book.”

And that they did.

Bryant, who is also an AARP Experience Corps volunteer, was a teacher’s aide in the Port Arthur Independent School District for years, then retired but she couldn’t stay away from the passion to help students.

Other AARP Experience Corps volunteers Carrie Boudreaux, Katie Petrie and Beverly Johnson took turns interacting with the students.

Adams school principal Cheryl Tripplett is thankful for the volunteers for what they do.

“They work with out students one on one and in small groups and develop relationships that the children may or may not have at home. They encourage them and motivate them o do well,” Tripplett said.

Tripplett was also pleased with the transformation of the room into an homage to Dr. Seuss and for helping the students with their reading — a subject they need to excel in order to excel in other subjects.

Theodore Seuss Geisel, or Dr. Seuss, is usually celebrated around this time of the year for what would have been his birthday.