ON THE CHOPPING BLOCK: BOOKS

By Francesca Haley Howard

After growing concerns about offensive images that were “wrong and hurtful,” Dr. Seuss Enterprises announced last month it was ceasing publication of six titles: And to Think That I Saw It on Mulberry Street (first published in 1937); McElligot’s Pool (1947); If I ran the Zoo (1950); Scrambled Eggs Super! (1953); On Beyond Zebra! (1955); and The Cat’s Quizzer (1976). Fans around the world rushed to get their hands on copies before the books were forever lost to obscurity. The unintended effect was that nine of Amazon’s top bestsellers were books by famed writer, Dr. Seuss (Thomas Geisel). Prices skyrocketed: one retailer even managed to sell one of the titles for almost $3,000 before eBay and other online shopping platforms stopped sales of the controversial books.


Although some of my fondest childhood memories involve reading Dr. Seuss’s classics like “Green Eggs and Ham,” I’ve never read the six books in question. From what I understand, they weren’t even popular until they were taken off store shelves. For the record, I am not interested in reading books that some critics call racist, xenophobic, or anti-Semitic. Nor am I even curious to see images involving stereotypical and insensitive portrayals of certain races, religions, genders, and cultures. However, what troubles me most is that some groups and organizations are trying to make these decisions for me in my “best interest.”


While my values might align with many of these well-intentioned people at this moment in time, who is to say that we won’t disagree on another book or topic at a later date? In the end, who is the judge of what is appropriate reading? I don’t pretend to know the answers to these questions. However, any talk of censorship scares me. I’ve already heard rumors that other classics in children’s literature risk being “canceled”: Huckleberry Finn; To Kill a Mockingbird, Babar; and Clifford The Big Red Dog, to name a few. Most texts, upon closer examination, probably have content that someone might deem problematic, inconsiderate, distasteful, offensive, or just not inclusive enough. What’s more, banning books seems to run counter to American ideals of free speech and expression.


Clearly, book-banning is a slippery slope. I reached out to Ethical Culture Fieldston School’s librarians to find out what their take is on controversial children’s books and whether the six Dr. Seuss titles have already or would be purged from school shelves. I was told the Fieldston libraries never carried these obscure titles because they are not in high demand. “We do not ban any books,” explains Cornelia Locher. “However, we recently have been doing a diversity audit. It is not so much about removing, but more about adding inclusive books to our shelves.” Librarian Catherine Elwood agrees: “Every time we order books, we keep diversity in mind. Historically, because it is the mission of the school, we have been doing well in trying to be careful on what books we offer students.” Interestingly, each fall marks one of the Tate Library’s most popular events: banned book week. In partnership with the American Library Association (ALA), the ECFS librarians display a collection of books, which are banned in other places, for Fieldston students to read.


Instead of purging books with objectionable content from bookstores and library shelves, perhaps parents and teachers could use them as a learning opportunity to delve deeper into complex issues like racism. Educators might put insensitive books that were written long ago in a historical context and discuss them through such a lens, rather than outright banning them. Or let the marketplace decide, and hopefully distasteful books will wither away from lack of demand and be discontinued.