The organization that preserves the legacy of children’s author Dr. Seuss has announced it will stop publishing six books because of racist imagery.
Dr. Seuss Enterprises says some of the author’s books “portray people in ways that are hurtful and wrong,” the company said in a series of tweets.
“Ceasing sales of these books is only part of our commitment and our broader plan to ensure Dr. Seuss Enterprises’ catalog represents and supports all communities and families,” the company added.
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To that end, Dr. Seuss Enterprises, working with a panel of experts, including educators, reviewed our catalog of titles and made the decision last year to cease publication and licensing of the following titles:— Dr. Seuss (@DrSeuss) March 2, 2021
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These books portray people in ways that are hurtful and wrong.Ceasing sales of these books is only part of our commitment and our broader plan to ensure Dr. Seuss Enterprises’ catalog represents and supports all communities and families.
— Dr. Seuss (@DrSeuss) March 2, 2021
The books include: “And to Think That I Saw It on Mulberry Street,” “If I Ran the Zoo,” “McElligot’s Pool,” “On Beyond Zebra!,” “Scrambled Eggs Super!,” and “The Cat’s Quizzer.”
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This comes after one of the largest school districts in Virginia last week removed Seuss’ books from its “Read Across America Day” celebration.
As CBN News reported, Loudon County Public Schools stressed that they didn’t “ban” Dr. Seuss’s books, however, they are not encouraging Read Across America Day to be exclusively connected with the author’s birthday.
“Research in recent years has revealed strong racial undertones in many books written/illustrated by Dr. Seuss,” the school district said in a statement. We continue to encourage our young readers to read all types of books that are inclusive, diverse, and reflective of our student community, not simply celebrate Dr. Seuss.”
Dr. Seuss’s March 2 birthday has been celebrated in schools across the country as a way to emphasize the important role that reading and writing have in our lives.
And his books have been translated into dozens of languages, including braille, and continue to sell in over 100 countries. The author was born Theodor Seuss Geisel in Springfield, Massachusetts, on March 2, 1904. He passed away in 1991.
President Biden has reportedly taken the beloved author’s books out of his proclamation for Read Across America Day.
In contrast, Fox News reports former President Barack Obama and former President Donald Trump both mentioned Dr. Seuss’s contributions to American literature in their annual proclamations.
“The works of Theodor Seuss Geisel, better known to us as Dr. Seuss, have sparked a love for reading in generations of students.,” Obama said in his 2015 proclamation. “His whimsical wordplay and curious characters inspire children to dream big and remind readers of all ages that ‘a person’s a person no matter how small.”
In his 2018 proclamation, Trump encouraged Americans to “always remember the still-vibrant words of Dr. Seuss: ‘You have brains in your head. You have feet in your shoes. You can steer yourself any direction you choose.'”
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But this is not the first time the author’s work has been criticized.
In 2017, a school librarian in Cambridge, Massachusetts, denounced a donation of 10 Seuss books from first lady Melania Trump, accusing many of his works to be “steeped in racist propaganda, caricatures, and harmful stereotypes.”
A Dr. Seuss museum in his hometown of Springfield took down a mural that included an Asian image in 2018.
And “The Cat in the Hat,” one of the author’s most well-known books, has received some disapproval. As of now, the book will continue to be published.
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