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Six Dr. Seuss books will stop being published because of racist and insensitive imagery, Dr. Seuss Enterprises announced today (today also happens to be the late author’s birthday).

In a correlating statement with Dr. Seuss’s birthday, Dr. Seuss Enterprieses said, “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.”

This includes the late author and illustrator’s popular titles like And to Think That I Saw It on Mulberry Street and If I Ran the Zoo.

And to Think That I Saw It on Mulberry Street, his first children’s book, was rejected 27 times before getting published in 1937. Dr. Seuss is credited with inventing the word “nerd,” which was first documented in If I Ran the Zoo in 1950.

The other lesser-known titles included on this cease-publish list are McElligot’s Pool, On Beyond Zebra!, Scrambled Eggs Super!, and The Cat’s Quizzer.

The decision to cease publication and sales of the books was made last year after months of discussion, Associated Press reports.


Theodor Seuss “Ted” Geisel was born March 2, 1904, in Springfield, Massachusetts. He died of cancer at the age of 87.