Company Withdraws Dr. Seuss Children's Books over 'Hurtful' Pictures
2021-03-07
LRC
TXT
大字
小字
滚动
全页
1The business that oversees the work of children's writer Dr. Seuss will stop publishing six of his books.
2In a statement Dr. Seuss Enterprises gave this reason: "These books portray people in ways that are hurtful and wrong."
3Canceling publication of these books, the statement said, is part of a bigger plan to make sure all of Dr. Seuss Enterprises' books and products represent and support all communities and families.
4One of the books being withdrawn is "And to Think That I Saw It on Mulberry Street."
5In it, an Asian person is drawn wearing a pointed hat, holding chopsticks and eating from a bowl.
6In the book "If I Ran the Zoo" a drawing has two bare-footed African men wearing what appear to be grass skirts with their hair tied above their heads.
7The other books that will no longer be published are "McElligot's Pool," "On Beyond Zebra!," "Scrambled Eggs Super!," and "The Cat's Quizzer."
8The company said it reached the decision last year after working with a group of experts.
9Dr. Seuss is the pen name of Theodore Seuss Geisel.
10He was a writer of books for children who died in 1991.
11However, Dr. Seuss remains very popular.
12The company that oversees sales of his books earned an estimated $33 million in 2020.
13That is up from $9.5 million five years ago.
14In 2020, Forbes magazine listed Dr. Seuss as its second highest-earning person who is no longer alive.
15The late popular music star Michael Jackson is the first.
16Forbes also reported that a day after the announcement of the cancellation, nine of the top 10 books on Amazon's best-selling charts were by Dr. Seuss.
17None was one of the six now-canceled books.
18The National Education Association in the United States started Read Across America Day in 1998 on Geisel's birthday.
19However, for the past several years, it has distanced itself from Seuss and has supported other children's books instead.
20The move to stop publication of the books quickly caused reactions on social media.
21Some called it another example of "cancel culture." While others approved of the decision.
22Rebekah Fitzsimmons is an assistant teaching professor at Carnegie Mellon University.
23She tweeted this statement:
24"The books we share with our children matter.
25Books shape their world view and tell them how to relate to the people, places, and ideas around them.
26 As grown-ups, we have to examine the worldview we are creating for our children, including carefully re-examining our favorites."
27Other popular children's series have been criticized in recent years for being offensive to some people.
28In the 2007 book, "Should We Burn Babar?" the author and educator Herbert R. Kohl wrote that the "Babar the Elephant" books celebrated colonialism.
29He said this because the elephant Babar leaves the forest and later returns to "civilize" his fellow animals.
30One of the books, "Babar's Travels," was removed from the shelves of a British library in 2012 because of the way it shows Africans.
31Others have criticized the "Curious George" books because the story begins with a white man bringing the monkey George out of Africa.
32The writer Laura Ingalls Wilder has been criticized for how she wrote about Native Americans in her "Little House on the Prairie" books.
33Her books have been criticized so often that the American Library Association removed Wilder's name in 2018 from a prize it gives out each year.
34The association still gives out the Geisel Award.
35This is a book prize for beginning readers published in the English language.
36I'm Anna Matteo.
1The business that oversees the work of children's writer Dr. Seuss will stop publishing six of his books. In a statement Dr. Seuss Enterprises gave this reason: "These books portray people in ways that are hurtful and wrong." 2Canceling publication of these books, the statement said, is part of a bigger plan to make sure all of Dr. Seuss Enterprises' books and products represent and support all communities and families. 3One of the books being withdrawn is "And to Think That I Saw It on Mulberry Street." In it, an Asian person is drawn wearing a pointed hat, holding chopsticks and eating from a bowl. In the book "If I Ran the Zoo" a drawing has two bare-footed African men wearing what appear to be grass skirts with their hair tied above their heads. 4The other books that will no longer be published are "McElligot's Pool," "On Beyond Zebra!," "Scrambled Eggs Super!," and "The Cat's Quizzer." The company said it reached the decision last year after working with a group of experts. 5Dr. Seuss is the pen name of Theodore Seuss Geisel. He was a writer of books for children who died in 1991. However, Dr. Seuss remains very popular. The company that oversees sales of his books earned an estimated $33 million in 2020. That is up from $9.5 million five years ago. In 2020, Forbes magazine listed Dr. Seuss as its second highest-earning person who is no longer alive. The late popular music star Michael Jackson is the first. 6Forbes also reported that a day after the announcement of the cancellation, nine of the top 10 books on Amazon's best-selling charts were by Dr. Seuss. None was one of the six now-canceled books. 7The National Education Association in the United States started Read Across America Day in 1998 on Geisel's birthday. However, for the past several years, it has distanced itself from Seuss and has supported other children's books instead. 8The move to stop publication of the books quickly caused reactions on social media. Some called it another example of "cancel culture." While others approved of the decision. 9Rebekah Fitzsimmons is an assistant teaching professor at Carnegie Mellon University. She tweeted this statement: "The books we share with our children matter. Books shape their world view and tell them how to relate to the people, places, and ideas around them. As grown-ups, we have to examine the worldview we are creating for our children, including carefully re-examining our favorites." 10Other popular children's series have been criticized in recent years for being offensive to some people. 11In the 2007 book, "Should We Burn Babar?" the author and educator Herbert R. Kohl wrote that the "Babar the Elephant" books celebrated colonialism. 12He said this because the elephant Babar leaves the forest and later returns to "civilize" his fellow animals. One of the books, "Babar's Travels," was removed from the shelves of a British library in 2012 because of the way it shows Africans. 13Others have criticized the "Curious George" books because the story begins with a white man bringing the monkey George out of Africa. 14The writer Laura Ingalls Wilder has been criticized for how she wrote about Native Americans in her "Little House on the Prairie" books. Her books have been criticized so often that the American Library Association removed Wilder's name in 2018 from a prize it gives out each year. The association still gives out the Geisel Award. This is a book prize for beginning readers published in the English language. 15I'm Anna Matteo. 16Mark Pratt reported this story for the Associated Press from Boston with contributions from Hillel Italie in New York. Anna Matteo adapted it for VOA Learning English. Mario Ritter, Jr. was the editor. 17________________________________________________________________ 18Words in This Story 19portray -v. to describe in a particular way 20pen name -n. a name used by a writer instead of the writer's real name 21relate -v. to understand or have sympathy for someone or something