Dr. Seuss Enterprises says they’ll stop printing six Dr. Seuss books over concerns about “racially insensitive imagery,” announcing the change on Tuesday on what would have been the late author Theodor Seuss Geisel’s birthday.
In a statement, the company said they’re pulling the plug on “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’ because the books contain content and cartoon images that “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," the company said.
While the publisher didn't give specific examples of exactly what imagery led to these books being yanked from their shelves, some of the cartoons – published in books printed in the ‘30s, ‘40s and ‘50s, to remind – include a “Chinaman who eats with sticks,” an Arab man on a camel, and Africans with stereotyped facial features.
The announcement comes after the Biden administration excluded any mention of Dr. Seuss on “Read Across America Day,” which falls every March 2. The Daily Mail notes the late author was hailed by both Presidents Obama and Trump each year as one of the nation’s most notable authors who continues to inspire children to read and to use their imaginations even three decades after his death in 1991.
Even before the announcement that the publisher was pulling some of it’s more “controversial” works, several school systems across the country had already shifted away from putting Dr. Seuss books on their reading lists, citing concerns over racial insensitivity. But despite efforts to “cancel” Dr. Seuss, the author and his works, which includes the famous “Cat In the Hat,” “How the Grinch Stole Christmas,” “One Fish Two Fish” and “Green Eggs and Ham,” remains one of the most popular children’s authors of all time, grossing $33 million in 2020.