LI School District Celebrates Dr. Seuss

SHOREHAM-WADING RIVER, NY —Despite the backlash against Dr. Seuss this week, one local Long Island school district showed the beloved late author some love in honor of his birthday.

On Tuesday, Dr. Seuss Enterprises said it will stop publishing six of the late Massachusetts author's books due to racist and insensitive imagery. Those books include "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."

The decision has sparked an outcry from many who stand behind the books written by Seuss, whose full name was Theodor Seuss Geisel. Dr. Seuss died at 87 in 1991 and his birthday was marked on March 2.

Students in Shoreham-Wading River's Miller Avenue School celebrated Dr. Seuss' birthday by wearing colorful hats and reading “The Cat in the Hat.”

The district did not read the six books in question during the celebration.

The celebration was part of a five-day Spirit Week at both Miller Avenue School and Briarcliff School to recognize National Read Across America Day and Dr. Seuss, the district said. Each day, the two schools had a different theme — on Monday, students and staff wore green in honor of “Green Eggs and Ham” and on Tuesday, favorite hats were worn.

Wacky Wednesday honored “The Lorax,” and the week finished with recognition of the “Sleep Book” and “Fox in Socks.” Teachers received recordings of each day’s book read by one of the district administrators, a release said.