Soon-to-Be Pulled Dr Seuss Titles Shoot Up Amazon’s Best-Seller List

Dr. Seuss Enterprises said Tuesday it will pull six books from publication for ‘hurtful’ depictions

Many of the six Dr. Seuss titles that are being discontinued landed on Amazon’s best-seller list on Tuesday afternoon.

Dr. Seuss Enterprises, the company in charge of preserving the beloved children’s author’s legacy, on Tuesday announced that six Seuss books will be permanently discontinued due to material deemed racist or insensitive. The six books — “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” — will no longer be republished or licensed for further use.

“These books portray people in ways that are hurtful and wrong,” the company said in a statement issued on what would have been the author’s 117th birthday as well as as National Read Across America Day.

All but “The Cat’s Quizzer” were among the top 50 selling books on Amazon on Tuesday. “If I Ran the Zoo” is currently at No. 6. The top two books were both Dr. Seuss titles. The top seller is a collection that features “Cat in the Hat,” “One Fish Two Fish,” “Green Eggs and Ham,” “Hop on Pop” and “Fox in Socks.”

“Oh the Places You’ll Go” landed in the No. 2 spot.

According to Dr. Seuss. Enterprises, the decision to discontinue these titles was made a year ago, after the company began “working with a panel of experts, including educators” to reassess the entire catalog of work by Seuss (né Theodore Geisel). Criticisms of some of his work have mounted over the years, specifically taking issue with the ways Black and Asian characters were illustrated in the children’s books.

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