I like the First Lady. She is an autonomous and independent woman as well as being married to a socially inflammatory man that has serious questions to his own sensitivity to racism. But, I would not hold her responsible for every book chosen for each school they were sent. I think the gesture was genuine and not intended to hurt anyone.
After his book (click here) The Cat in the Hat burst upon the scene in 1957 Dr. Seuss became a household name deeply ingrained in our collective experience. No one who has grown up in the last 50 years can imagine their childhood without the wonderfully zany images and poetically comic verses of Theodor Seuss Geisel, writing under the pseudonym Dr. Seuss....
...While children and adults worldwide know about the extraordinary creativity of Dr. Seuss, most people don’t realize that many of his ideas came from his years growing up in Springfield, Massachusetts. So many of the scenes he’s most known probably came from buildings or parks or other locations he knew as a child....
The Japanese man (click here) portrayed in this political cartoon, also by Dr. Seuss, has the same characteristics of a pig-nose, glasses, slanted eyes, etc. that were used to distinguish Emperor Hirohito. The repetition of these characteristics on all Japanese portrayed in Dr. Seuss’s cartoons also fuels the loss of the individuality of the Japanese people. In the cartoon above, Dr. Seuss goes as far as to use the caption “Wipe That Sneer Off His Face” to call upon the characteristic “sneer” he uses in his caricatures of the Japanese. It calls Americans to act against the sneer, to “wipe it off” the Japanese man’s face by buying war bonds....
Librarians are suppose to be experts on the books they house and care for as well as the patrons that frequent a library.
Cambridge, Mass. – A librarian (click here) at the Cambridgeport Elementary School in Massachusetts is facing backlash for declining a shipment of books from first lady Melania Trump.
The school's librarian, Liz Phipps Soeiro, wrote a lengthy editorial for the Horn Book's Family Reading blog explaining why her school does not need the books.
The librarian's school was among one from each state chosen to receive 10 Dr. Seuss books from the first lady for National Read a Book Day. But the librarian penned a letter for a blog saying her school has "plenty of resources" and doesn't need the books. She called Dr. Seuss "a bit of a cliche."...
Ms. Liz Soeiro is correct in pointing out to the First Lady the troubling issues surrounding books within her library. There is an issue with this decision that can be pursued in regard to censorship, however, these are children's books and their experience should be free of ill placed values.
Every library in the country has a right to stock books that will bring readers and enthusiasts to be a part of the community. The Dr. Suess books, given today's climate in attempting to erase racism, are best stored in a special section reserved for adults for the purpose of understanding the influence or lack there of, by the author.
Personally, I never found any of the Dr. Suess books interesting or entertaining to read to my children. I found them distortions of the joy meant to be a child. I find the same sort of mess exists today with all that 'thing' affiliated with "The Night Before Halloween." (click here for "Rotten Tomatoes" rating)
I believe a child should be lovable and their reality full of joy and query. It is wrong to taint a child's reality with recreational racism or any such influence that may exist, even by implication.
The question here is would I find the library Ms. Soeiro oversees as SAFE for my child's learning and enjoyment? I would say, "Yes." Anyone that can be not only interested in the book, but, the author and his or her influence in society is a librarian valued above all.
I thank Ms. Soeiro for her thoughtful letter to express what she perceives as a danger to her readers, but, also the thoughtful expression of the community, in hiring her.
I wish the First Lady and her son a very good day.
Every library in the country has a right to stock books that will bring readers and enthusiasts to be a part of the community. The Dr. Suess books, given today's climate in attempting to erase racism, are best stored in a special section reserved for adults for the purpose of understanding the influence or lack there of, by the author.
Personally, I never found any of the Dr. Suess books interesting or entertaining to read to my children. I found them distortions of the joy meant to be a child. I find the same sort of mess exists today with all that 'thing' affiliated with "The Night Before Halloween." (click here for "Rotten Tomatoes" rating)
I believe a child should be lovable and their reality full of joy and query. It is wrong to taint a child's reality with recreational racism or any such influence that may exist, even by implication.
The question here is would I find the library Ms. Soeiro oversees as SAFE for my child's learning and enjoyment? I would say, "Yes." Anyone that can be not only interested in the book, but, the author and his or her influence in society is a librarian valued above all.
I thank Ms. Soeiro for her thoughtful letter to express what she perceives as a danger to her readers, but, also the thoughtful expression of the community, in hiring her.
I wish the First Lady and her son a very good day.
