And to think that I saw it on Mulberry Street
"Dr. Seuss’s very first book for children! From a mere horse and wagon, young Marco concocts a colorful cast of characters, making Mulberry Street the most interesting location in town. Dr. Seuss’s signature rhythmic text, combined with his unmistakable illustrations, will appeal to fans of all ages, who will cheer when our hero proves that a little imagination can go a very long way. (Who wouldn’t cheer when an elephant-pulled sleigh raced by?) Now over seventy-five years old, this story is as timeless as ever. And Marco’s singular kind of optimism is also evident in McElligot’s Pool" - Google Books
Stats for nerds
1recommend
9mentions
7people
2018–2023years
11% recommend78% neutral11% critical
Mentions per year
What Hacker News says
- One of the books they banned, "And to Think That I Saw It on Mulberry Street", was Dr. Seuss's breakthrough work, and certainly not "obscure". Another, "If I Ran the Zoo", is widely considered among his best.
These are both very much among his classics.
- I don't think there's much evidence to support your viewpoint.
Most books don't age well.
I tried to read Baum's "The Woggle-Bug Book" a few years ago, and found its humor, rooted in old ethnic stereotypes, totally un-enjoyable. It did not age well.
While the Hardy Boy books I enjoyed as a kid wouldn't have been so wildly popular had they kept the original text. ("From 1959 to 1973, the first 38 books were extensively revised, largely to remove depictions of racial stereotypes" says Wikipedia.)
One of the most popular Agatha Christie novels is "And Then There Were None". That was "re-published to align with the political zeitgeist" so much they even changed the title and the name of the island. Most people have read the re-aligned version, not the original version.
And as I learned recently, "Charlie and the Chocolate Factory" was "re-published to align with the political zeitgeist" in the 1970s, due to complaints by the NAACP and others that the Oompa-Loompas were African Pygmies. The re-write made them white, and the movie made them orange. The re-aligned version has outsold the original version.
Also in the 1970s, Geisel ("Dr. Seuss") edited "And to Think That I Saw It on Mulberry Street" to change how it describes and portrays a Chinese man. That book continues to be sold.
Carnegie's "How to Win Friends and Influence People" was revised in the 1981 edition to reflect the new feminist zeitgeist. For examples, "insurance man" was replaced with "insurance agent", and "leadership gravitates to the man who can talk" changed to "leadership gravitates to the person who can talk". It also dropped the section on marriage. ("Never get married until you have kissed the Blarney Stone. Praising a woman before marriage is a matter of inclination. But praising one after you marry her is a matter of necessity — and personal safety.") The preface to the 1981 edition points out how "Carnegie himself was a tireless reviser of his own work during his lifetime" and would have made changes because he was "sensitive to the changing currents of present-day life".
While not "tons of books", the fact that I - with little knowledge of book publishing history - can point to several counter-examples, suggests that there are a lot more popular books out there which were updated to the modern zeitgeist.
- This CBC article makes a claim on a single cartoon.
"Even Dr. Seuss — liberal and good on anti-black sentiment, good on antisemitism — even this guy was totally blind about the Asian side of the picture," he said.
NPR claims "Dr. Seuss Books Can Be Racist, But Students Keep Reading Them"
But some of Seuss' classics have been criticized for the way they portray people of color. In And To Think That I Saw It On Mulberry Street, for example, a character described as Chinese has two lines for eyes, carries chopsticks and a bowl of rice, and wears traditional Japanese-style shoes. In If I Ran the Zoo, two men said to be from Africa are shown shirtless, shoeless and wearing grass skirts as they carry an exotic animal. Outside of his books, the author's personal legacy has come into question, too — Seuss wrote an entire minstrel show in college and performed as the main character in full blackface.
https://www.npr.org/sections/codeswitch/2019/02/26/695966537...
Paper cited by NPR is: "The Cat is Out of the Bag: Orientalism, AntiBlackness, and White Supremacy in Dr. Seuss's Children's Books"
To date, there have been several book-length studies of Dr. Seuss, including Ruth K. MacDonald’s Dr. Seuss, Judith and Neil Morgan’s Dr. Seuss and Mr. Geisel, Richard H. Minear’s Dr. Seuss Goes to War, and Charles D. Cohen’s The Seuss, the Whole Seuss, and Nothing but the Seuss (11). These authors have made invaluable contributions to the literature by preserving and documenting Seuss’ extensive collection of published works, and their work is cited extensively in this paper. A limitation, however, is that none of the authors represent any of the marginalized groups represented in Seuss’ published works. These authors, who appear to be homogeneously White, have normalized, defended, minimized, and even erased examples of racism within their analyses of Seuss’ works. For instance, of the book If I Ran the Zoo—one of the most egregious in terms of depicting people of color through racist caricatures—Ruth K. MacDonald writes, “Occasional stereotypes of native peoples—potbellied, thick-lipped blacks from Africa, squinty-eyed Orientals—may offend some modern readers, but in general, the book delights readers of several ages at several levels."
Horton Hears a Who! is one of Dr. Seuss' books widely cited as promoting tolerance. . . . Regardless of the intention of the book, the impact is that it reinforces themes of White supremacy, Orientalism, and White saviorism. It positions the Whos in a deficit-based framework as the dominant, paternalistic Horton enacts the White Savior Industrial Complex.
https://sophia.stkate.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1050&c...
- False. The company that sells the books decided to cease publication and sales.
> Six Dr. Seuss books — including “And to Think That I Saw It on Mulberry Street” and “If I Ran the Zoo” — will stop being published because of racist and insensitive imagery, the business that preserves and protects the author’s legacy said Tuesday.
> The other books affected 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, the company, which was founded by Seuss’ family, told AP.
[0] https://apnews.com/article/dr-seuss-books-racist-images-d8ed...
- In this particular case, saying that the books were “cancelled” or banned is false. The publishing company was set up by his family and they are choosing to no longer publish or sell more copies. For them to be forced to publish those books again would actually be against free speech.
https://apnews.com/article/dr-seuss-books-racist-images-d8ed...
> BOSTON (AP) — Six Dr. Seuss books — including “And to Think That I Saw It on Mulberry Street” and “If I Ran the Zoo” — will stop being published because of racist and insensitive imagery, the business that preserves and protects the author’s legacy said Tuesday.
> “These books portray people in ways that are hurtful and wrong,” Dr. Seuss Enterprises told The Associated Press in a statement that coincided with the late author and illustrator’s birthday.
> “Ceasing sales of these books is only part of our commitment and our broader plan to ensure Dr. Seuss Enterprises’ catalog represents and supports all communities and families,” it said.
> The other books affected 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, the company, which was founded by Seuss’ family, told AP.
(Emphasis mine)
- https://www.seussville.com/statement-from-dr-seuss-enterpris...
Statement from Dr. Seuss Enterprises March 2, 2021
Today, on Dr. Seuss’s Birthday, Dr. Seuss Enterprises celebrates reading and also our mission of supporting all children and families with messages of hope, inspiration, inclusion, and friendship.
We are committed to action. To that end, Dr. Seuss Enterprises, working with a panel of experts, including educators, reviewed our catalog of titles and made the decision last year to cease publication and licensing of the following titles: 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. 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.
The Dr. Seuss Experience – A wondrous world awaits!
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