As most know by now, several of Dr. Suess’s books have been pulled from circulation regarding certain racial stereotypes which are seen in his earlier books. The title of the books that will no longer be sold is as follows: “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.” 

When making the decision to pull these six books, Dr. Seuss Enterprises released a statement acknowledging that some of the characters in his books portray people in a hurtful and wrong way. Dr. Seuss’s step-daughter has since spoken on behalf of her late step-father saying he did not have a racist bone in his body and would never intentionally hurt other people with his work. She did, however, agree that it was a wise choice to pull these books from being published in this day and age. 

The criticism of Dr. Seuss’s earlier work is not as new as many may suspect. For several years, Read Across America and other school districts have begun to deemphasize Seuss and encourage a more diverse, inclusive reading list for children. 

Many experts agree that Dr. Seuss is not being canceled. All of his popular books such as “Cat in the Hat,” “Green Eggs and Ham,” and “The Lorax” will remain unaffected. It is just a moral decision to recall a shortlist of books that may be hurtful to specific groups of people.