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BOSTON (AP) – Six books by Dr Seuss – including ‘And to think I saw it on Mulberry Street’ and ‘If I ran the zoo’ – will cease publication due to racist and callous images, the company that preserves and protects the author’s legacy said Tuesday.
“These books portray people in hurtful and reprehensible ways,” Dr. Seuss Enterprises told The Associated Press in a statement that coincided with the birthday of the deceased author and illustrator.
“Stopping the sale of these books is only part of our commitment and our larger plan to ensure that the Dr. Seuss Enterprises catalog represents and supports all communities and families,” he said. .
Other affected books are “McElligot’s Pool”, “On Beyond Zebra !,” “Scrambled Eggs Super !,” and “The Cat’s Quizzer”.
The decision to stop publishing and selling the books was made last year after months of discussions, the company, which was founded by Seuss’s family, told AP.
“Dr. Seuss Enterprises has listened to and considered feedback from our audiences, including educators, academics and subject matter experts, as part of our review process. We then worked with a panel of experts, including educators, to review our catalog of titles, ”he said.
In “And Thinking I Saw It On Mulberry Street,” an Asian person is depicted wearing a conical hat, holding chopsticks and eating from a bowl. “If I ran the zoo” includes a drawing of two barefoot African men wearing what appear to be grass skirts with their hair tied above their heads.
The books of Dr. Seuss – who was born Theodor Seuss Geisel in Springfield, Massachusetts on March 2, 1904 – have been translated into dozens of languages as well as Braille and are sold in over 100 countries. He died in 1991.
It remains popular, earning around $ 33 million pre-tax in 2020, down from just $ 9.5 million five years ago, the company said. Forbes ranked him # 2 on his highest-paid deceased celebrities of 2020, behind only the late pop star Michael Jackson.
Random House Children Books, publisher of Dr Seuss, released a brief statement on Tuesday: “We respect the decision of Dr Seuss Enterprises (DSE) and the work of the committee that reviewed this content last year, as well as its recommendation. . “
As adored as Dr. Seuss is by millions around the world for the positive values of many of his works, including environmentalism and tolerance, there has been growing criticism in recent years of how which blacks, Asians and others are drawn to in some of his most beloved children’s books, as well as in his earlier advertising and propaganda illustrations.
The National Education Association, which founded Read Across America Day in 1998 and deliberately aligned it with Geisel’s birthday, has for several years de-emphasized Seuss and encouraged a more diverse reading list for children.
School districts across the country have also moved away from Dr Seuss, prompting Loudoun County, Va., With schools just outside Washington, DC to shut down. rumors last month that they were banning books entirely.
“Research in recent years has revealed strong racial undertones in many books written / illustrated by Dr. Seuss,” the school district said in a statement.
In 2017, a school librarian in Cambridge, Massachusetts, criticized a gift of 10 Seuss books from first lady Melania Trump, claiming that many of her works were “steeped in racist propaganda, harmful caricatures and stereotypes”
In 2018, a Dr. Seuss museum in his hometown of Springfield removed a mural which included an Asian stereotype.
“The Cat in the Hat,” one of Seuss’ most popular books, has also received reviews, but will continue to be published for the time being.
Dr Seuss Enterprises, however, said he was “committed to listening and learning and will continue to look at our entire portfolio”.
The decision to stop publishing the books sparked an immediate backlash on social media from those who called it another example of a “cancellation culture.”
“We now have a foundation book burning the authors they are dedicated to. Well done everyone, ”tweeted conservative commentator and author Ben Shapiro.
Others approved of the decision.
“The books that we share with our children are important. Books shape their worldview and tell them how to interact with the people, places and ideas around them. As adults, we need to examine the worldview we create for our children, including carefully re-examining our favorites, ”Rebekah Fitzsimmons, assistant professor at Carnegie Mellon University, tweeted.
Many other popular children’s series have come under fire in recent years for alleged racism.
In the 2007 book, “Should We Burn Babar?”, Author and educator Herbert R. Kohl claimed that the “Babar the Elephant” books were celebrations of colonialism because of the way the main character left. the jungle and later returns to “civilize” his animal companions.
One of the books, “Babar’s Travels,” was taken off the shelves of a UK library in 2012 because of its alleged stereotypes about Africans. Critics have also criticized the “Curious George” books for their assumption that a white man brings home an African monkey.
And Laura Ingalls Wilder’s portrayals of Native Americans in her “Little House on the Prairie” novels have been so often criticized that the American Library Association withdrew her name in 2018 from an award of excellence that it awards each year. year. The association continues to present the Geisel Award for “the most distinguished American book for beginning readers published in English in the United States in the previous year”.
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AP National writer Hillel Italy contributed from New York.
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