Biden Omits Dr. Seuss from “Read Across America Day” Proclamation
President Biden made the controversial decision to drop Dr. Seuss from Read Across America Day, failing to include the famous children’s author in his Presidential Proclamation.
Former President Obama and President Trump both included Dr. Seuss in their proclamations in previous years, while President Biden made the decision to not include any mention of the author or his many books that remain favorites today.
Read Across America Day was of course inspired by Dr. Seuss’ birthday which coincides with it on March 2nd.
“On this Read Across America Day, we celebrate the parents, educators, librarians, and other champions of reading who help launch our Nation’s children on that critical path,” the proclamation read with absolutely no mention of Theodor Seuss Geisel.
This comes on the heels of Dr. Seuss Enterprises announcing its decision to cancel the publication of six Dr. Seuss books:
And to Think That I Saw It on Mulberry Street
If I Ran the Zoo
McElligot’s Pool
On Beyond Zebra!
Scrambled Eggs Super!
The Cat’s Quizzer
The books are being cancelled because they “portray people in ways that are hurtful and wrong” according to Dr. Seuss Enterprises.
Former President Obama made the rational decision to mention Dr. Seuss specifically in 2016, with the proclamation reading, “March 2 is also the birthday of one of America’s revered wordsmiths. Theodor Seuss Geisel — or Dr. Seuss — used his incredible talent to instill in his most impressionable readers universal values we all hold dear.”
First Lady Melania Trump read Dr. Seuss on Read Across America Day in 2017, reading Oh, The Places You’ll Go! to children at a children’s health facility in New York.