To Think That I Saw It In Congress

Despite a 28-year career in children’s publishing, I have NEVER HEARD OF THIS BOOK until this week. Just saying.

All I can say is, a lot of my books are out of print, and nobody has ever complained about it in the halls of Congress.

Okay, that’s not actually all I have to say.

Nobody has cancelled Dr. Seuss. Nobody has censored his books. No arm of government or political party is involved in any way.

The publisher (presumably in concert with his estate) has chosen not to issue new editions of six books. They say it is because the images contain hurtful stereotypes. (This is true. I’ve enjoyed If I Ran the Zoo, but those so-called Africans with their grass skirts and ape-like faces–really, Ted?)

This is normal. It’s business as usual. Publishers put books out of print all the time, because the books failed to connect with an audience, because they’ve become dated and readers don’t get them anymore, because (shh!) they were never that good in the first place. And–here’s the big reason, actually the only reason–because they aren’t selling that well. Because the books aren’t profitable.

Dr. Seuss Enterprises (an arm of Penguin Random House) failed to mention this, but believe me–if those books were selling like hotcakes, they’d still be in print. They’re not. Possibly because people are not lining up to buy books with hurtful stereotypes in them. Possibly because there are better books out there, some of them written by Dr. Seuss himself.

It’s the free market in action, folks. There’s no or little demand. So there’s no new supply.

Look, Ted Geisel was an immensely talented author and illustrator. He wasn’t a saint. He wasn’t perfection incarnate. And he doesn’t have some sort of constitutional right to have his books in print forever. (If so, I wish I could figure out how to get that right for myself. Alas, I don’t think it exists.)

If you are passionately devoted to On Beyond Zebra or McElligot’s Pool, you can still read them. Knock yourself out. Libraries and used bookstores still have copies. They haven’t vanished from the world of literature. It’s simply that there are not going to be new editions rolling off the press.

It’s not shocking. It’s not a problem. It’s a publisher responding to what people in 2021 want to read.

(P.S. Please feel free to also read picture books by Kevin Henkes, Barbara Cooney, Kwame Alexander, Mo Willems, Sophie Blackall and … I don’t know, maybe me? Dr. Seuss is not the only talented and brilliant author out there. There are so very many excellent children’s books being written and illustrated and published. The kids will be fine.)