‘And to think I saw him on Mulberry Street’
“And To Think I Saw It On Mulberry Street” (1st published in 1937) was my favorite Dr Seuss book when I was a kid. I can still recite parts of it from memory. But looking at it from a modern perspective, it’s impossible to ignore the overt racial stereotypes. #Dr. Seuss pic.twitter.com/TRLWLOdHVp
– Tara Dublin is still waiting for her big break (@taradublinrocks) March 2, 2021
And to think that I saw him on Mulberry Street would have been included in the list because of his portrayal of an Asian person. It shows the figure wearing a conical hat, holding chopsticks and eating from a bowl, according to the AP.
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“If I ran the zoo”
This page from “If I ran the zoo” pic.twitter.com/MUk35ynECD
– vivian (@FabMexLady) March 5, 2021
one of Dr Seuss’ fight pages is worth checking out because everyone is just flashing the covers (this one from “If I Ran the Zoo”): pic.twitter.com/ZuwCE1pmax
– Edward-Isaac Dovere (@IsaacDovere) March 3, 2021
If I ran the zoo was also exhausted for a casual racist image. It shows two African men wearing grass skirts, their hair tied above their heads. It also shows a cartoonish depiction of Asian figures carrying a caged animal over their heads, with the caption: “I will hunt in the mountains of Zomba-ma-Tant / With helpers who all have their eyes askew.”
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‘McElligot’s Pool’
An idea. Considering that Dr. Seuss’ McElligot Pool is banned because it contains the word Eskimo, why don’t we just change it to Inuit? It has the same number of syllables. I might be wrong, but it can work. pic.twitter.com/JI9M2I8BVj
– InkBlot (@ InkBlot57323200) March 3, 2021
McElligot’s pool was apparently included in the list due to its description of “Eskimo fish” swimming from the North Pole. The word “Eskimo” is an outdated term for several Native American groups, including the Inuit, Aleut, and Yupik nations. In Canada, he’s seen as downright offensive to these groups, and illustrations of fish in fur-lined parkas haven’t helped.
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“Beyond Zebra! “
On Beyond Zebra! is a wonderful book about creativity and thinking outside the box. I don’t know why it was withdrawn. This appears to be the only page even close to being problematic. Thoughts? pic.twitter.com/BbrJjl0Eji
– Ryan Niman (@rcniman) March 6, 2021
A report of The Vancouver Sun describe On Beyond Zebra! as “probably the least obvious” of the “problematic imagery” in these six books. It shows a character named “Nazzim of Bazzim” riding a camel-like creature called “Spazzim”. Although Nazzim’s nationality is not immediately declared, they are implicitly from the Middle East, and the vagueness is probably part of the problem here.
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Great scrambled eggs!
“Great Scrambled Eggs! ” pic.twitter.com/0KexY1qGCS
– Strxwmxn (@strxwmxn) March 2, 2021
Personally, I do not find the previous image shocking. I also don’t understand why Scrambled Eggs Super is being pulled, probably only for these two images of a man named Ali, who is one of the people who is bravely trying to help the protagonist get eggs: pic.twitter.com/lYUldw41Sj
– Shari (aka Killian-Whump) 💠(@astroasis) March 2, 2021
Great scrambled eggs! has also been withdrawn from publication for generalizations about Inuit. It showed a group of people clad in fur-lined clothing near the Arctic, again without contextualizing their appearance.
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The cat quiz
The cat quiz by Dr Seuss pic.twitter.com/PXqCxzpOj0
– Swedenborg (@Wilmographe) March 2, 2021
Ultimately, The cat quiz featured an illustration of a yellow-skinned person wearing a conical hat, along with the caption, “How old do you have to be to be Japanese?” The wording of the sentence combined with the absurd question are the most likely culprits of the book’s place on this list.
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