Six Dr. Seuss books will no longer be published because of their use of offensive imagery, according to the business that oversees the estate of the children’s author and illustrator.
In a statement on Tuesday, Dr. Seuss Enterprises said that it had decided last year to end publication and licensing of the books by Theodor Seuss Geisel. The titles include his first book writing under the pen name Dr. Seuss, “And to Think That I Saw It on Mulberry Street” (1937), and “If I Ran the Zoo” (1950).
“These books portray people in ways that are hurtful and wrong,” Dr. Seuss Enterprises said in the statement, which coincided with the birthday of Mr. Geisel, who died in 1991. The business said the decision came after working with a panel of experts, including educators, and reviewing its catalog of titles.
The other books that will no longer be published are “McElligot’s Pool,” “On Beyond Zebra!” “Scrambled Eggs Super!” and “The Cat’s Quizzer.”
Mr. Geisel’s stories, which have been translated into dozens of languages, are loved by fans for their rhymes and fantastical characters but also for their positive values, like taking responsibility for the planet.But in recent years, critics have said some of his work was racist and presented harmful depictions of certain groups.
In “And to Think That I Saw It on Mulberry Street,” a character described as “a Chinaman” has two slits for eyes, wears a pointed hat and carries chopsticks and a bowl of rice. In “If I Ran the Zoo,” two characters from “the African island of Yerka” are depicted as shirtless, shoeless and resembling monkeys.
Before he became a giant of children’s literature, Mr. Geisel drew political cartoons for a New York-based newspaper, PM, from 1941 to 1943, including some that used harmful stereotypes to caricature Japanese and Japanese-Americans. Decades later, he said he was embarrassed by the cartoons, which he said were “full of snap judgments that every political cartoonist has to make.”
Random House Children’s Books, which publishes the Dr. Seuss books, did not respond to a request for comment.
Sopan Deb contributed to reporting.
