By Caroline Lanni
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FRAMINGHAM – In schools across the nation, books written by Dr. Seuss are popular among elementary students. Theodor Seuss Geisel, better known as Dr. Seuss, authored books known for their :nonsense words, playful rhymes, and unusual creatures,” according to the Britannica website.
But earlier this week, the Associated Press published on Dr. Seuss Day – March 2 is the the deceased author and illustrator’s birthday – that the family of Dr. Seuss made the decision to cease publication of six Dr. Seuss books immediately.
“These books portray people in ways that are hurtful and wrong,” Dr. Seuss Enterprises told The Associated Press. “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 impacted Dr. Seuss books are “And to Think 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.”
Dr. Seuss’s first book “And to Think That I Saw It on Mulberry Street” was published in 1937.
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Local public libraries in MetroWest and the Framingham Public School district are not ready to remove those six Dr. Seuss books from their shelves, despite the racial accusations. They want more time to review the books and the announcement this week.
Amy Bright, the assistant superintendent for elementary education in Framingham said, “the Office of Teaching and Learning continues to look at the selection of texts within Framingham Public Schools and with the texts we offer. We certainly have an intentional effort around
providing texts that offer windows and mirrors for all students.”
Bright said “we ask and support teachers when they do select a text whether it is a mentor text in elementary or a novel set in the middle of high school were asking students to take a critical look at the way the office portrays the characters within a book, while examining the stereotypes and bias as we open discussions and invite everyone in our space in Framingham to engage in conversations about cultural competency.”
Bright said she oversees all nine elementary schools in Framingham, and it is a “constant focus” for our elementary literacy coaches to develop curriculum and a focus to embark on committees in each school about diversity and inclusion.
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She added this is a work in progress towards the social justice domain and identifying diversity, justice, and action the Framingham Public School system is embracing.
Read Across America Day is an important day in elementary and has traditionally been tied to Dr. Seuss’s birthday, explained Bright.
This year, Framingham provided teachers alternate titles and a “wider array” of titles to celebrate Read Across America Day.
“One school gave a slide deck of additional titles to be used and another school sent out a paragraph to be mindful of the images in the Dr. Seuss novels and how they are written and making sure we are looking through a critical lens if we are using Dr. Seuss titles,” said Bright.
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“No Dr. Seuss titles have been pulled from shelves – we have a School Committee Policy around pulling books or banning books, so none have been pulled,” said Bright to SOURCE.
“I have faith that the schools where we have those librarian media specialists would navigate the ‘right’ books to the students,” added Bright.
News about these six Dr. Seuss books will affect students reading his books in the future because, explained Bright.
“Every time you know better, you do better,” and this is an example of those times, she added.
Bright said schools look at books with rhyme and decoding of texts with repetition and patterns for their students to read in elementary school.
“The more you know the better you do,” said Bright.
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Framingham Library Director Lena Kilburn said the “Framingham Public Library recognizes Dr. Seuss’ important contributions to children’s literature and his work’s incomparable impact on teaching children to read. We understand the Dr. Seuss Enterprises’ decision to pull these books from publication to preserve and encourage Dr. Seuss’s legacy.”
Kilburn said the “library values free and open access to books and information, rejects censorship in all its forms, and values intellectual freedom.”
“Our librarians are constantly assessing our collections based on a number of factors. Our children’s team will take a close look at these six titles, five of which the Library owns, to make a determination as to whether or not to keep them in our circulating collection,” said Kilburn. “Thankfully, Dr. Seuss has many widely beloved books, which our entire community can continue to enjoy.”
Dale Smith, supervisor for children’s services at the Morse Institute Library in Natick said, “It is always sad and disturbing to discover that a much-beloved author has created illustrations or works that disparage people in ways that may be considered racist, sexist or hurtful in any manner. Because this just came to our attention, we are still trying to decide how to best handle this.”
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Smith said “I understand why the Seuss Corporation has come to its decision to stop publishing and distributing these titles. Libraries, however, also have a responsibility to educate and it may be that we have these titles to remind people of what used to happen, but why it isn’t acceptable anymore.”
“Many of the titles in the Minuteman Library Network are being requested now and I believe people want to see what the concerns are and educate themselves on how to be more sensitive to these issues, which we would whole-heartedly support,” said Smith.
“The National Education Associated, which founded Read Across America Day in 1998 and deliberately aligned it with Geisel’s birthday, has for several years deemphasized Seuss and encouraged a more diverse reading list for children,” wrote the Associated Press in its reported earlier this week.
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