Artist and author Eric Carle s colorful, hungry caterpillar crawled into the hearts of children across the country and in the Berkshires, where many considered the Western Massachusetts resident one of
PITTSFIELD â Even as criticism of racist imagery in Dr. Seussâ books has grown in recent years, the late author remains popular among children in Berkshire County and across the nation.
There is no consensus among local librarians and early childhood educators on how to handle what has become a heavily debated legacy.
Dr. Seuss Industries, the company established to preserve the late authorâs legacy, will stop publishing six books because of racist imagery, it said Tuesday, the Springfield-born author Theodor Seuss Geiselâs birthday.
The companyâs decision follows years of research by nonwhite scholars that concluded that Dr. Seuss consistently placed nonwhite characters in âsubservient, exotified, or dehumanized roles.â Dr. Seuss âconsistently drew Africans and African Americans as monkeys and apes,â one organization wrote in an Instagram post.