


One of the books, “Babar’s Travels,” was removed from the shelves of a British library in 2012 because of its alleged stereotypes of Africans. Kohl contended that the “Babar the Elephant” books were celebrations of colonialism because of how the title character leaves the jungle and later returns to “civilize” his fellow animals. In the 2007 book, “Should We Burn Babar?,” the author and educator Herbert R.
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Numerous other popular children’s series have been criticized in recent years for alleged racism. As grown-ups, we have to examine the worldview we are creating for our children, including carefully re-examining our favorites,” Rebekah Fitzsimmons, an assistant teaching professor at Carnegie Mellon University, tweeted.
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Books shape their world view and tell them how to relate to the people, places, and ideas around them. “The books we share with our children matter. But they usually do so because no one is asking for that book anymore,” she said. “Shelf space is precious and librarians do periodically cull the book collections and remove some titles. They are more likely to place it in a less prominent location, or otherwise choose not to promote it. Libraries rarely pull a book even when some find it racist or otherwise offensive, says Deborah Caldwell Stone, who heads the American Library Association’s Office for Intellectual Freedom.
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Seuss,” the school district said in a statement.įor the country’s libraries, what to do with the Seuss books being withdrawn continues a longstanding conflict between the values of free expression and acknowledging that some content may be hurtful. “Research in recent years has revealed strong racial undertones in many books written/illustrated by Dr. Seuss, prompting Loudoun County, Virginia, schools just outside Washington, D.C., to douse rumors last month that they were banning the books entirely. School districts across the country have also moved away from Dr. 2 on its highest-paid dead celebrities of 2020, behind only the late pop star Michael Jackson.The National Education Association, which founded Read Across America Day in 1998 and deliberately aligned it with Geisel’s birthday, has for several years deemphasized Seuss and encouraged a more diverse reading list for children. He remains popular, earning an estimated $33 million before taxes in 2020, up from just $9.5 million five years ago, the company said. Seuss - who was born Theodor Seuss Geisel in Springfield, Massachusetts, on Ma- have been translated into dozens of languages as well as in braille and are sold in more than 100 countries. We then worked with a panel of experts, including educators, to review our catalog of titles,” it said.īooks by Dr. Seuss Enterprises listened and took feedback from our audiences including teachers, academics and specialists in the field as part of our review process. The decision to cease publication and sales of the books was made last year after months of discussion, the company told AP.

The other books affected are “McElligot’s Pool,” “On Beyond Zebra!,” “Scrambled Eggs Super!,” and “The Cat’s Quizzer.” Seuss Enterprises’ catalog represents and supports all communities and families,” it said. “Ceasing sales of these books is only part of our commitment and our broader plan to ensure Dr. Seuss Enterprises told The Associated Press in a statement that coincided with the late author and illustrator’s birthday. “These books portray people in ways that are hurtful and wrong,” Dr. Seuss books - including “And to Think That I Saw It on Mulberry Street” and “If I Ran the Zoo” - will stop being published because of racist and insensitive imagery, the business that preserves and protects the author’s legacy said Tuesday.
