Dr, Seuss is making news in more ways than we could have imagined…..
There are lessons in life that the Dr. teaches….
In 1984, Dr. Seuss won an award for his contribution to children’s literature.
In his years as a cartoonist and children’s writer, Theodor Seuss Geisel created some of the world’s most famous books and illustrations, including Green Eggs and Ham, The Cat in the Cat, and The Lorax.
As lifehackers, we can learn a lot from the legendary Dr. Seuss. He was, after all, one of the pioneers of clever storytelling that didn’t insult the intelligence of children. For example, consider How the Grinch Stole Christmas!—an early criticism of commercialization—from 1957.
We can study Dr. Seuss’s successful children’s books to become more productive, feel more motivated, and live a rich life. But the “Father of Children’s Books” also has plenty to teach us about the importance of reading, believing in yourself, and doing the work.
Let’s look at some things Dr. Seuss used to say, and see what we can learn from each one of them.
https://www.lifehack.org/articles/communication/11-important-life-lessons-from-seuss.html
Lots of positivity there…..but then there is the flip side of it, the negativity…..
Tuesday is the 117th birthday of the late Theodor Seuss Geisel, aka Dr. Seuss, but the celebration this year comes with controversy. The business that controls the Seuss name says six books will no longer be published or sold because they portray people “in ways that are hurtful and wrong,” reports the AP. Two well-known titles are in the mix, And to Think That I Saw It on Mulberry Street and If I Ran the Zoo, along with McElligot’s Pool, On Beyond Zebra!, Scrambled Eggs Super!, and The Cat’s Quizzer. Details:
- Background: In recent years, Seuss books have come under criticism for their portrayal of non-white characters. A 2019 study, for example, found that Seuss books have 45 human characters of color—out of more than 2,240 human characters in total—and 43 “of them have Orientalist depictions and two align with the theme of anti-Blackness,” per USA Today. The AP notes related criticism over Geisel’s depiction of Black, Asian, and other characters in his earlier advertising and World War II propaganda illustrations.
- Anger: At Fox News, Liz Peek wonders in an op-ed whether the new backlash against Seuss will be a “tipping point” in the culture wars. “Cancel culture has become so mindless and all-encompassing that the average American will soon say…Enough!” she writes. “Dr. Seuss could bring us to that point.” Sen. Ted Cruz even wrote some Seuss-like verse about all this, as noted by Twitchy.
- Biden shift: March 2 is “Read Across America Day,” which is traditionally associated with Seuss. President Biden’s proclamation for the day left out Seuss’ name, a pivot from presidents Obama and Trump. And the NEA also has been shifting its focus on the day from Seuss to emphasize diverse children’s titles.
- One district: Last month, Virginia’s Loudon County school district courted controversy when headlines suggested it was banning all Seuss books, notes CNN. But the district says is it not banning them, only de-emphasizing them. “Research in recent years has revealed strong racial undertones in many books written/illustrated by Dr. Seuss,” explains the district in a statement.
- More on the study: The 2019 study noted that in If I Ran the Zoo, for example, the “three (and only three) Asian characters who are not wearing conical hats are carrying a White male on their heads.” The latter “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.'”
- Rationale: In explaining its decision to stop publishing the six new books, Dr. Seuss Enterprises says it “listened and took feedback from our audiences including teachers, academics and specialists in the field as part of our review process. We then worked with a panel of experts, including educators, to review our catalog of titles.”
I am not a big fan of censorship….I mean my mother never told me what I could read or not….so I do not think any government has that right.
The decision should be made by parents….not government.
Then there is the GOP….who never misses a chance to want money from some silly cause….
Republicans aren’t happy about the “cancellation” of certain Dr. Seuss books over racist imagery—and they’re using the issue to raise money. “‘Cancel Culture is TOXIC!’ / Patriots proudly declare,” reads a rhyme on the National Republican Congressional Committee’s fundraising page. “‘Free Speech must be defended.’ / Dems retort: ‘Too bad! Don’t care!’ / If you’re tired of nonsense: / Join us. Take a stand. / Condemn the Far Left for / Their radical plan. / We won’t be able to speak or think freely, / By the time the Dems are through. / Chip in $25 now and / We’ll send ‘Cat in the Hat’ right to you.” As Axios points out, The Cat in the Hat is not actually one of the six books that Dr. Seuss Enterprises will no longer be publishing. This is just the latest example of the right using “cancel culture” as a rallying cry, Axios notes.
Other examples of fundraising calls issued by the NRCC recently include, “The Liberal mob wants to cancel the Fourth of July” and “The Radical Left wants to cancel Christmas for good.” Meanwhile, as the books’ cancellation drove demand for them way up, eBay announced Thursday it was sweeping its marketplace to delist all copies for sale, the Wall Street Journal reports. Other major retailers, including Barnes & Noble, had also pulled the books, though third-party sellers were still offering them on Amazon (for extravagant prices). One seller whose listing was pulled tells the Journal she was told by eBay that the bok violated its “offensive material policy.” Libraries oppose censorship, and the director of the American Library Association’s Office for Intellectual Freedom tells CNN it will be up to individual libraries to decide whether to pull the books. Two big ones have so far announced the books will stay on shelves, CBS News reports: New York and Denver.
As usual the GOP will take a faux issue and try and drive the dialog to help avoid the fact they have NO principles left…all they have is fake issues that do NOTHING to move this forward or to “make it great again” (to use another worthless slogan)
What a worthless pack of Americans!
Thoughts?
I Read, I Write, You Know
“lego ergo scribo”
