![]() ![]() The association still gives out the Geisel Award for “the most distinguished American book for beginning readers published in English in the United States during the preceding year.” _ĪP National Writer Hillel Italie contributed from New York. ![]() Critics also have faulted the “Curious George” books for their premise of a white man bringing home a monkey from Africa.Īnd Laura Ingalls Wilder’s portrayals of Native Americans in her “Little House On the Prairie” novels have been faulted so often that the American Library Association removed her name in 2018 from a lifetime achievement award it gives out each year. One of the books, “Babar’s Travels,” was removed from the shelves of a British library in 2012 because of its alleged stereotypes of Africans. Kohl contended that the “Babar the Elephant” books were celebrations of colonialism because of how the title character leaves the jungle and later returns to “civilize” his fellow animals. Or that President Biden in his proclamation for Read Across America Day (which. Seuss Enterprises would announce that six of his books, including On Beyond Zebra, would no longer be published or licensed because they portray people in ways that are hurtful and wrong. In the 2007 book, “Should We Burn Babar?,” the author and educator Herbert R. I did not imagine then that on the 117th birthday of Theodor Geisel, Dr. Numerous other popular children’s series have been criticized in recent years for alleged racism. As grown-ups, we have to examine the worldview we are creating for our children, including carefully re-examining our favorites,” Rebekah Fitzsimmons, an assistant teaching professor at Carnegie Mellon University, tweeted. Books shape their world view and tell them how to relate to the people, places, and ideas around them. “The books we share with our children matter. Seuss museum in his hometown of Springfield removed a mural that included an Asian stereotype. But they usually do so because no one is asking for that book anymore,” she said. “Shelf space is precious and librarians do periodically cull the book collections and remove some titles. They are more likely to place it in a less prominent location, or otherwise choose not to promote it. ![]() Libraries rarely pull a book even when some find it racist or otherwise offensive, says Deborah Caldwell Stone, who heads the American Library Association’s Office for Intellectual Freedom. Seuss,” the school district said in a statement.įor the country’s libraries, what to do with the Seuss books being withdrawn continues a longstanding conflict between the values of free expression and acknowledging that some content may be hurtful. “Research in recent years has revealed strong racial undertones in many books written/illustrated by Dr. Seuss, prompting Loudoun County, Virginia, schools just outside Washington, D.C., to douse rumors last month that they were banning the books entirely. School districts across the country have also moved away from Dr. ![]()
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