The World Book Company will not publish six books by Dr. Seuss based on racist imagery
BOSTON (AP)\Six Dr. Seuss books — including “And to Believe That I saw it On Mulberry Street” and “If I Ran the Zoo” -they will be withdrawn from publication because of insensitive and racist images, the company that safeguards and preserves the legacy of the author announced Tuesday.
“These books depict the people they depict in ways that hurt and untrue,” Dr. Seuss Enterprises told The Associated Press in an announcement that was made in conjunction with the death of the creator and author’s birthday.
The suspension of sales of these books is only one aspect of our commitment , as our overall goal is to make sure that Dr. Seuss Enterprises’ catalog represents and is supportive of all families and communities,” it said.
Other books that are affected include “McElligot’s Pool,”” “On Beyond Zebra!” “Scrambled Eggs Super!” as well as “The Cat’s Quizzer.”
The family of Seuss, which founded the company, decided to stop publishing and selling its books last year after months of discussions.
Dr. Seuss Enterprises listened and received feedback from our readers, which included teachers, academics or experts to assist in the process of reviewing. Then, we worked together with a panel of experts, which included educators, to look over our catalog of titles,” the company said.
In “And to think I saw it on Mulberry Street,” an Asian person is shown wearing a conical hat holding chopsticks and eating out of the bowl. “If I went to the Zoo” includes a sketch of two naked African men, wearing what appear like grass skirts. They have hair that is tied over their heads.
Books written by Dr. Seuss — who was born Theodor Seuss Geisel in Springfield, Massachusetts, on March 2, 1904has been translated into many languages as well as braille and sold worldwide in over 100 languages. The author died in 1991.
He’s still very popular, and is expected to earn around $33 million, including tax in 2020, an increase from $9.5 millions five years earlier, Forbes stated. Forbes listed him No. 2 on its list of the most lucrative dead celebrity list in 2020, trailing only the late pop singer Michael Jackson. Within hours of the announcement on Tuesday, Dr. Seuss books made up more than half of all the slots in the top 20 on Amazon.com’s Bestsellers list. “Mulberry Street” and “If I Ran the Zoo” were listed alongside “Oh The Places You’ll Go!.Green Eggs and Ham” and others are in the process of being written.
Random House Children Books, Dr. Seuss’ publisher, released a short statement on Tuesday: “We respect the decision of Dr. Seuss Enterprises (DSE) and the work of the committee that reviewed the content in the last year and their recommendations.”
Dr. Seuss is adored by millions of people across the world due to his positive messages he presents in his books that include environmental and tolerance, however, critics have grown in recent times about the manner in which Blacks, Asians and others are depicted in some of his most popular children’s books and also in his early advertising or propaganda images.
The National Education Association, which established Read Across America Day in 1998 and then deliberately to coincide with Geisel’s birthday has, for a number of years, reduced the importance of Seuss and promoted a wider selection of books for children.
Districts across the country have also shifted off from the work of Dr. Seuss, prompting Loudoun County, Virginia, schools close to Washington, D.C., to stop the rumors that surfaced in the last month of banning the book completely.
Space on shelves is scarce. Librarians are constantly purging their libraries of books and get rid of certain titles. Seuss, the school district stated in an announcement.
The library system of the United States and how they deal with the Seuss books that are being pulled is an ongoing conflict between the rights of free expression and the acceptance that some material may be harmful. Libraries are not the first to remove books even if they consider it to be racist or offensive, claims Deborah Caldwell Stone, who is the head of the American Library Association’s Office for Intellectual Freedom. They’re more likely to put the book in a lesser-known location or decide not to advertise it.
Space on shelves is scarce. Librarians are constantly purging their libraries of books and get rid of certain titles. However, they generally do this because nobody wants the book,” she said.
In the year 2018 the year 2018, the In 2018, a. Seuss museum in his hometown of Springfield removed the wall that featured the Asian stereotype.
“The Cat in the Hat,” one of Seuss’ most well-known books was also criticized but will be published as of now.
Dr. Seuss Enterprises, however, has stated that it was “committed to learning and listening in the future and we will evaluate the entire range of products.
The decision to end publication of the books provoked immediate reactions on social media by people who viewed it as an example of “cancel culture.”
We recently published an ebook on burning foundations authors and the authors they’re committed to. Congratulations to everyone who did it,” conservative commentator and author Ben Shapiro twitter.
Others backed the decision.
“The books we give to our children are important. They shape their perception of the world and teach them how to be in touch with those, the places and ideas that surround them. As adults, we need to scrutinize the worldview we have created for our children. This includes taking the time to re-examine our favorites,” Rebekah Fitzsimmons, an assistant instructor of Carnegie Mellon University, tweeted.
Numerous other popular series for children have been criticized in recent times for allegations of racism.
In the 2007 book “Should we burn Babar?” writer and teacher Herbert R. Kohl contended that the “Babar the Elephant” books were celebrations of colonialism as a result of the way in which the main character goes into the wild and then comes back to “civilize” the animals around him.
The book “Babar’s Journeys” was taken off the shelves of the British library as of 2012 as a result of its supposed stereotypes about Africans. Some critics have also criticized the “Curious George” books for their narrative of a white man who brings the home of a monkey from Africa.
Laura Ingalls Wilder’s depictions of Native Americans in her “Little House on the Prairie” novels have been criticized in such a way in the past that the American Library Association removed her name from its lifetime achievement award it hand annually. The library association continues to award the Geisel Award to “the most prestigious American book for readers who are beginning that was published by a publisher in English within the United States during the preceding year.
