If you have a school-aged child in your home, you might know that March 2nd is Read Across America day. Your kids might even be participating in the event that is supposed to encourage children to read.

March 2nd is also Dr. Seuss’s birthday, and it has always been connected with Read Across America day. Surely Read Across America day falling on Dr. Seuss’s birthday is intentional and not an accident. After all, the children’s book author certainly wrote some fun and entertaining books that we loved to read when we were kids.

Instead of celebrating Dr. Seuss’s birthday, on March 2, 2021, Dr. Seuss Enterprises has made a pretty surprising announcement. They are going to stop publishing 6 of Dr. Seuss’s classic children’s books because they are racist. Watch the video below to learn which books will no longer be published.

In case you didn’t catch it in the video, the 6 books that will no longer be published are, “And to Think That I Saw It on Mulberry Street,” “If I Ran the Zoo,” “If I Ran the Zoo,” “McElligot’s Pool,” “On Beyond Zebra!,” “Scrambled Eggs Super!,” “The Cat’s Quizzer.”

A study from 2019 found specific examples of racism in the books mentioned above. For example, the authors of the study wrote, “In (“The Cat’s Quizzer”), the Japanese character is referred to as ‘a Japanese,’ has a bright yellow face, and is standing on what appears to be Mt. Fuji.”

Another example from the study points out the book “If I Ran the Zoo.” The authors wrote, “The three (and only three) Asian characters who are not wearing conical hats are carrying a White male on their heads in ‘If I Ran the Zoo.’ The White male is not only on top of, and being carried by, these Asian characters, but he is also holding a gun, illustrating dominance. The text beneath the Asian characters describes them as ‘helpers who all wear their eyes at a slant’ from ‘countries no one can spell.’”

Does it surprise you that 6 Dr. Seuss books have imagery that is considered racist? Have you read these particular Dr. Seuss books? Are your kids participating in Read Across America Day?