Sad news for Dr. Seuss fans on what would have been his 117th birthday...six of his books will no longer be published or sold because of racist images.

Dr. Seuss was born Theodor Seuss Geisel in Springfield, Massachusetts, on March 2nd, 1904. He passed away in 1991 at the age of 87.

His books have been translated into dozens of languages, including braille, and are sold in more than 100 countries. His books earned an estimated $33 million before taxes last year, that's up from just $9.5 million five years ago. Forbes listed Dr. Seuss at #2 on its highest-paid dead celebrities of 2020. Dr. Seuss is behind only the late Michael Jackson.

The company that publishes and sells his books released the following statement: "Dr. Seuss Enterprises 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."

Dr. Seuss Enterprises will stop publishing and selling a total of six books because of racist and insensitive imagery. Those books 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," according to the company.

One of Dr. Seuss' most popular books, “The Cat in the Hat,” has also received criticism, but it will continue to be published, at least for now.

In a similar move, just last week the Disney+ added content disclaimers to 18 episodes of "The Muppet Show" that are available on their streaming platform.

 

READ MORE: 25 Companies You Might Not Know Are Owned by Disney

More From 97.9 WGRD