Dr. Seuss gets boost as books sell out despite big fight

The six Dr. Seuss books whose publisher announced this week would be canceled over alleged racial insensitivity quickly sold out on Amazon and Barnes & Noble. Now other Dr. Seuss titles are occupying nine of Amazon’s top 10 bestselling books.

“The Cat in the Hat” is No. 1, according to CNN, followed by “One Fish Two Fish Red Fish Blue Fish” and “Oh, the Places You’ll Go!” None of the discontinued books are on Amazon’s list, after surging on internet auction sites earlier this week.

The titles were seeing a huge markup in prices and demand on several internet bidding sites, with some of the banned titles selling for more than $500. “Ebay is currently sweeping our marketplace to remove these items,” a spokeswoman for the company told The Wall Street Journal in an email.

On Tuesday — what would have been Theodor Seuss Geisel’s 117th birthday, which has also been christened as Read Across America Day — Dr. Seuss Enterprises announced it would stop publishing six of the beloved children’s author’s books due to insensitive, racist imagery.

The canceled titles are “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.”

“These books portray people in ways that are hurtful and wrong,” Dr. Seuss Enterprises told The Associated Press. “Ceasing sales of these books is only part of our commitment and our broader plan to ensure Dr. Seuss Enterprises’ catalog represents and supports all communities and families,” it said.