Dr. Seuss: Compilation of Resources

There was lots of information in my emails and online regarding Dr. Seuss and Read Across America. So, to make it easily accessible, I compiled the information in one place.  

Here is the press release by Dr. Seuss enterprises on March 2, 2021 from their website:

“Today, on Dr. Seuss’s Birthday, Dr. Seuss Enterprises celebrates reading and also our mission of supporting all children and families with messages of hope, inspiration, inclusion, and friendship.
We are committed to action.  To that end, Dr. Seuss Enterprises, working with a panel of experts, including educators, reviewed our catalog of titles and made the decision last year to cease publication and licensing of the following titles:  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.  These books portray people in ways that are hurtful and wrong.
Ceasing sales of these books is only part of our commitment and our broader plan to ensure Dr. Seuss Enterprises’s catalog represents and supports all communities and families.”

Dr. Seuss and Racism

A peer-reviewed article called The Cat is Out of the Bag that discusses the racism in Dr. Seuss’ work:  Ishizuka, Katie and Stephens*, Ramón (2019) "The Cat is Out of the Bag: Orientalism, Anti-Blackness, and White Supremacy in Dr. Seuss's Children's Books," Research on Diversity in Youth Literature: Vol. 1 : Iss. 2 , Article 4.  Available at: https://sophia.stkate.edu/rdyl/vol1/iss2/4
 
Book “Was the Cat in the Hat Black? The Hidden Racism of Children’s Literature, and the Need for Diverse Books” by Philip Nel.  Information from the publisher: “Gives those who teach, create, edit, or agent children's books potential tools to uproot systemic racism.  Explores how children's literature obscures its racialized origins.  Examines the common marketing practice of "whitewashing" and the growing resistance to it”  Google talk with the author Philip Nel.  Slate interview with Philip Nel about the press release from Dr. Seuss Enterprises on 3/3/2021.

Opinion piece in SLJ, Choosing Not to Highlight Dr. Seuss Books is Not Censorship by Oregon school librarian Miranda Doyle.

Article in School Library Journal about racism and monkey imagery:  The Problem With Picture Book Monkeys: Racist imagery associating simians with Black people has a long history by Edith Campbell. School Library Journal, December 4, 2019. 

​A great infographic by Katie Salo (Twitter: @storytimekatie):

Diverse Books Recommendations for Reading Aloud

Read across America’s recommendations of diverse books.

Blog post by Jillian Heise that includes a list of diverse and inclusive read alouds.

Collection Development

Collection development and weeding decisions.

What to do about books with cultural inaccuracies in your collection.

Do you have an important resource to add to this collection?  Let us know.  Email [email protected].
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A big thank you to Angie Manfredi, Youth Services Consultant at the State Library of Iowa for her contributions to the discussion, Katie Salo for her amazing infographic, Greta Bergquist for keeping us in the loop and Tessa Michaelson Schmidt, Wisconsin's Youth and Inclusive Services Public Library Consultant.

Racism and Children

Author Kelly Yang opens up about her own experiences with racism in the wake of COVID19​ and explains how we can teach kids to rise above hate during this critical time -- and always.  YouTube Video.

An incredibly in-depth look at resources on racism, children and Dr. Seuss by Philip Nel, Professor of English at Kansas State University.

Author

Tara Morissette
Library Assistant
Oregon City Public Library
CSD Communications/ Web Editor