A spokesperson for Dr. Seuss Enterprises told the Associated Press that six books will no longer be reprinted in the future. Morgan, Neil; Morgan, Judith Giles (1996). Dr. Seuss Mr. Geisel: a biography. New York: Da Capo Press. ISBN 978-0-306-80736-7. American trade editions of the book were printed in 1947, 1974, 1975, and 1992, and a library edition was printed in 1999. [3] Withdrawal from publication [ edit ] For decades, the works of Dr. Seuss (real name Theodor Seuss Geisel) have been considered both iconic childhood classics and bastions of liberalism. They are lauded for their celebration of all that makes us different, and Seuss books like Horton Hears a Who and The Sneetches appear frequently in anti-racism curricula for children.

In 1950, McElligot's Pool won the Pacific Northwest Library Association Young Reader's Choice Award, and in 1948, it won the Caldecott Honor.Gross, Jenny (March 2, 2021), "6 Dr. Seuss Books Will No Longer Be Published Over Offensive Images", The New York Times , retrieved March 2, 2021 Contrary to Fox News’s claims, neither the National Education Association nor Dr. Seuss Enterprises is attempting to cancel Dr. Seuss. The six remaindered books are obscure also-rans in his canon, and the rest of his much-beloved classics remain in print, in bookstores, and in school libraries. His books will still be taught in schools. He continues to be the rare author so iconic that his pen name is a literal brand name. Pratt, Mark (March 2, 2021). "Six Dr. Seuss books won't be published for racist images". CTV News . Retrieved March 2, 2021.

Of the six, the problematic imagery in On Beyond Zebra! is probably the least obvious. The book catalogues a whimsical set of new letters in the alphabet, and briefly features the “Nazzim of Bazzim,” a figure of unspecified nationality riding a camel-like creature called a “Spazzim.” While it was interesting to see what Marco would come up with next, I found the book just a little too long for my taste. It's also slightly dated with the stereotypical depiction of Inuit, going so far as to use the term "Eskimo". But it was 1947, and it's unfair to judge books from the past against our current standards. (Look at it as a mini history lesson instead.) In this colorful picture book, a boy named Marco goes fishing in a small pond called McElligot's Pool. As he sits waiting for a bite, a farmer tells him "You'll never catch fish in McElligot's Pool!" Marco, however, refuses to be discouraged, and thus, the story unfolds. I wonder if the offense here is as specific as the images above or if the publisher just decided the whole concept of this book was Orientalist in some broad sense, i.e. othering. All of the made-up fish are certainly exotic and the book does present the idea that far away things are different from what you might find in a small pool nearby. I guess I could see someone finding that offensive these days but in this case I’m definitely not convinced that’s a good thing. In my humble opinion, of this kind of “Dream Bigger” trilogy (my point of view, not that they’d ever enlisted as such by anybody else): And to Think that I saw i ton Mulberry Street, McElligot’s Pool (this one), and If I ran the Zoo,...The story begins with a boy named Marco fishing in a small, trash-filled pond known as McElligot's Pool. A local farmer laughs at the boy and tells him that he will never be able to catch anything. Nevertheless, Marco holds out hope and begins to imagine a scenario in which he might be able to catch a fish. On Tuesday, the publishing imprint Dr. Seuss Enterprises announced that it would cease publishing six books by Dr. Seuss that include offensive images. In the statement, which was published on the author’s birthday, the publisher said it reached its decision after working with a panel of experts, including educators, in the service of its mission “of supporting all children and families with messages of hope, inspiration, inclusion, and friendship.” The odd thing, though, is that the color graphics alternate with the gray-and-white ones, and I don't understand why. I did love the one with the "flexible" strut holding up a whale of an outcropping of land on which sits the town, LOL. In this story we get to meet Marco from Dr. Seuss's first book and he is at McElligot's pool. He goes there one day to simply catch a fish and the farmer tells him that he will never catch a fish. He tells him that that is the location where people dump cans and bottles but no fish. Marco realizes while that may be true it is still possible to catch fish, all you have to do is be patient. When that idea comes in, his imagination goes wild like in the first book and goes into details of the different type of fishes that may come up to the surface of McElligot's pool. Over the past few years, Read Across America Day has been moving away from Dr. Seuss in its attempts to focus on more diverse books for children.

Fensch, Thomas (2001). The Man Who Was Dr. Seuss. Woodlands: New Century Books. ISBN 0-930751-11-6. There aren’t that many racial caricatures in Dr. Seuss’s children’s books, mostly because there aren’t that many nonwhite characters in Dr. Seuss’s children’s books. In their study, Ishizuka and Stephens counted 45 characters of color among the 2,240 human characters who appear in Dr. Seuss’s 50 books, which works out to just 2 percent. Notably, all of those characters are male. There are no girls or women of color in the Dr. Seuss canon. Dr. Seuss is one of the most beloved children’s authors in the country, and signed and first-edition Dr. Seuss books are valuable among book collectors. In addition, some collectors are known as completists, meaning they seek out every single published work by their favorite authors. And I Saw It On Mulberry Streetwas actually the first children’s book published by Dr. Seuss, which means it has intrinsic value for collectors. This week, the Loudoun County Public Schools in Virginia had to clarify that they are not banning Dr. Seuss' books, but are shifting are no longer connecting Read Across America Day with the author due to the "strong racial undertones" in his books. The main character is a boy who decides to go fishing in McElligot’s Pool. An adult tells him that the pool is too small and nothing lives there so he’s wasting his time. Most of the book is made up of the child imagining how the small pool may be connected to the ocean underground and through this connection any number of unusual fish from around the world may in fact turn up in this small pool. The book is full of Seuss’s own imaginary creatures.

Identifying, and Valuing First Edition Dr Seuss Books

And now Dr. Seuss Enterprises has decided to cease publishing six of Dr. Seuss’s books, all of which include racist caricatures.

But the children’s literature world is in the middle of figuring out exactly how central Dr. Seuss should be to its ecosystem as our culture reevaluates the racist ideas that run very clearly through his adult work and arguably through his work for children. And, by extension, it is in the middle of sorting out how it wants to handle the many other pieces of beloved children’s literature that include harmful racial attitudes: books like Laura Ingalls Wilder’s Little House series, with its fraught treatment of Indigenous peoples; the Narnia books, with their deeply uncomfortable Middle Eastern villains; the redface fantasies of Peter Pan.

Uncommon Knowledge

In May of 1954, Life published a report concerning illiteracy among school children. The report said, among other things, that children were having trouble to read because their books were boring. This inspired Geisel's publisher, and prompted him to send Geisel a list of 400 words he felt were important, asked him to cut the list to 250 words (the publishers idea of how many words at one time a first grader could absorb), and write a book. Nine months later, Geisel, using 220 of the words given to him published The Cat in the Hat, which went on to instant success. A number of books by the beloved children's author Dr. Seuss will no longer be published over their racist and insensitive imagery. Given this research, and LCPS' focus on equity and culturally responsive instruction, LCPS provided this guidance to schools during the past couple of years to not connect Read Across America Day exclusively with Dr. Seuss' birthday," the district said in a statement.