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Just What the Doctor Ordered: Good Fun and Great Books at Reading is Good Medicine

Children at Reading is Good Medicine Event
By Dr. David C. Pate, News and Community
March 6, 2017
Dr. David Pate

My favorite late-winter weekend event combines books, kids, reading and loads of laughing, and rolled around again Saturday at the Boise Barnes & Noble.

It was the 10th year St. Luke’s has had the opportunity to partner with the store on North Milwaukee Street to throw a kid-sized party in support of literacy. The celebration takes advantage of the March 2 birthday of Theodor Seuss Geisel, better known across the world as Dr. Seuss.

Departments associated with St. Luke’s Children’s staffed booths, and 247 children and their families took part, a 40 percent increase over the crowd last year. The joyful mob played games, completed art projects and sat in on readings; this year, I departed from Dr. Seuss tradition and chose the crowd-pleasing “What to do if an Elephant Stands on Your Foot,” by Michelle Robinson and Peter Reynolds. 

More than two-dozen books were donated, and percentages from sales from the day were earmarked to support St. Luke's Children's.

About The Author

David C. Pate, M.D., J.D., previously served as president and CEO of St. Luke's Health System, based in Boise, Idaho. Dr. Pate joined the System in 2009 and retired in 2020. He received his medical degree from Baylor College of Medicine in Houston and his law degree from the University of Houston Law Center.