Dr Seuss: Stephen Colbert praises decision to discontinue publication of six books over racist undertones

Late night TV host Stephen Colbert has spoken out in defence of the decision by a Virginia school board to distance the annual Read Across America Day event from Dr Seuss.

The whimsical children’s author has come under scrutiny in recent years, with several of his books containing racist undertones.

Yesterday, Dr Seuss Enterprises announced that six of his lesser-known books (And to Think That I Saw It on Mulberry Street, If I Ran the Zoo, McElligot’s Pool, On Beyond Zebra!, Scrambled Eggs Super!, and The Cat’s Quizzer) will no longer be published, as a result of some of the offensive material contained within.

Read more:Joe Biden omits Dr Seuss from Read Across America Day proclamation

Speaking on The Late Show with Stephen Colbert, the presenter said: “It’s a responsible move on their part.

“There hadn’t been an earth-shattering outcry, but they recognise the impact these images might have on readers, especially kids, and they’re trying to fix it because Dr Seuss books should be fun for all people.

“It’s especially important to be responsive like this,” he added, because Dr Seuss has also so many books that are lovely and teach kids vital lessons that resonate to this day.”

Read more - Dr Seuss’s stepdaughter says he didn’t have ‘a racist bone’ in his body after books removed

At the end of the segment (which can be viewed in full here), Colbert launched into a Dr Seuss-style poem in which he recommended alternative children’s books penned by people of colour.