Dr. Seuss Books Quadruple in Sales After 6 Titles Pulled More Than a Week Ago

Dr. Suess's books usually see an uptick in sales during his birthday week (Suess was born on March [...]

By Alyssa Fikse

Dr. Suess's books usually see an uptick in sales during his birthday week (Suess was born on March 2, 1904), but a rallying cry of "cancel culture" has led to a quadrupling of sales after 6 titles were pulled from publication by Dr. Seuss Enterprises. The Associated Press reports that 1.2 million copies of Suess's books sold last week: "The Cat in the Hat sold more than 100,000 copies, compared to just 17,000 in the previous week; Green Eggs and Ham topped 90,000 copies, and One Fish Two Fish Red Fish Blue Fish sold around 88,000."

Dr. Seuss Enterprises announced that they would stop printing 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 due to the usage of "insensitive" and racist imagery in an attempt to protect the Seuss brand. "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," the company said in a public statement according to a report by AP. "Dr. Seuss Enterprises listened and took feedback from our audiences including teachers, academics, and specialists in the field as part of our review process. We then worked with a panel of experts, including educators, to review our catalog of titles."

None of the titles that have shot to the top of the bestseller lists are the books that are going out of print, but conservatives decided to frame the business decision made by a private organization as an instance of "cancel culture" and used it as a rallying cry among the right-wing. Senator Ted Cruz tweeted out "Who knew Joe Biden was such a great bookseller" when Seuss's books hit the bestseller list, despite the fact that the President had nothing to do with the estate's decision to pull the books. House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy did a dramatic reading of Green Eggs and Ham even though no one is threatening the book's status as a children's classic.

Reading Rainbow host LeVar Burton spoke on Anderson Cooper Full Circle to celebrate Read Across America Day, a day that encourages reading and always falls on Seuss's birthday. Burton explained that he felt the "general sense, once you know better, it is incumbent on you to do better. And I think that is exactly what Seuss Enterprises is doing here." Burton continued, saying that Dr. Seuss Enterprises is "being a responsible steward of the brand."

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