NEW YORK 鈥� Oh, the books that sold last week by Dr. Seuss.
More than 1.2 million copies of stories by the late children's author sold in the first week of March 鈥� more than quadruple from the week before 鈥� following the news that his estate was pulling six books because of racial and ethnic stereotyping. For days virtually every book in the top 20 on Amazon's bestseller list was by Dr. Seuss.
According to NPD BookScan, which tracks around 85% of retail sales, the top sellers weren't even the books being withdrawn. 鈥淭he Cat in the Hat鈥� sold more than 100,000 copies, compared to just 17,000 in the previous week. 鈥淕reen Eggs and Ham鈥� topped 90,000 copies, and 鈥淥ne Fish Two Fish Red Fish Blue Fish鈥� sold around 88,000.
The six books going out of print are 鈥淎nd to Think That I Saw It on Mulberry Street,鈥� 鈥淚f I Ran the Zoo,鈥� 鈥淢cElligot鈥檚 Pool,鈥� 鈥淥n Beyond Zebra!,鈥� 鈥淪crambled Eggs Super!,鈥� and 鈥淭he Cat鈥檚 Quizzer.鈥�
Dr. Seuss was born on March 2, 1904, and sales traditionally go up during his birthday week. But this year they likely received an extra shot because of those most opposed to the estate's decision. Conservatives soon responded with allegations of 鈥渃ancel culture,鈥� as Fox News provided extensive coverage and such prominent Republicans as House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy released videos of themselves reading from Seuss books.
Hillel Italie, The Associated Press
