Thinking about the Dr. Seuss racism controversy...
Yeah, I guess some of the pictures are quite stereotypical, so maybe it's best to save them for good discussions with kids about cultural and racial stereotypes. ( )

Fun to read aloud, as all of Seuss' books are but there are a few signs of the era in which it was written that don't translate well to present day. The creatures are such fun though! ( )

This book is so sweet and smart! They are censuring this, really? Is the world going crazy? I am so grateful for the existence of ebooks, that allow me to have access to books cut from circulation... This is a scary time we live in. ( )

Visiting the city zoo in this rhyming romp of a picture-book, young Gerald McGrew imagines what he would do, if he were in charge. Setting free all of the "boring" animals like lions and tigers, he would go on a worldwide hunt for more unusual creatures, from a ten-footed lion to an Elephant-Cat. What follows is an ever more imaginative list of fictional creatures that Gerald would track down and capture, to make McGrew's Zoo the best in the world...

Originally published in 1950, and awarded a Caldecott Honor in 1951, If I Ran the Zoo was Dr. Seuss' eighth picture-book, and feels very much akin to the earlier McElligot's Pool, published in 1947, and also awarded a Caldecott Honor (in 1948). Both books contain a wildly creative list of fictional creatures - fish and other aquatic life in McElligot's Pool, terrestrial and avian species in If I Ran the Zoo - all dreamt up by the young boy-narrator. Both also feature Seuss' strikingly expressive cartoon-style artwork that makes such excellent use of color and form to create a visual landscape full of both wonder and humor. In McElligot's Pool, the artwork alternated to great effect between black-and-white drawings and full-color watercolor paintings, whereas here, the illustrations are done in black line, with full color accents. This latter may take the form of colorful figures against a white page, or it may consist of a page that is itself a deep color - the black background on the page with the Iota, or the red background behind the family of deer with interconnected horns (AKA antlers) - but in either case, the result is far more colorful than in many of the artist's previous titles. It's easy to see why both of these books received the Caldecott Honor, and it's tempting to read them as companions to one another, although I am aware of the subsequent If I Ran the Circus (1956), which might also be considered a companion.

The text in If I Ran the Zoo seems to offer a further development of Dr. Seuss' wordplay, as there are far more made-up creatures here than in any previous titles - Joats, Lunks, Iotas, Thwerlls, Chuggs, Tufted Mazurkas, and so on - and more onomatopoeic adaptations of existing words: "And, speaking of birds, there's the Russian Palooski, / Whose headski is redski and belly is blueski. / I'll get one of them for my Zooski McGrewski." Unlike so many of Seuss' other books, I never read this one as a child - this is, in fact, my first encounter with it - but if I had, I can imagine that I might well have loved it for its inventiveness. Then again, I might well have loathed it for its blithe acceptance of the idea of hunting down and imprisoning the marvelous, or for its snide attitude toward some of the people Gerald encounters. More on that anon. I chose to finally pick it up at this moment in time because I am currently undertaking a Seuss retrospective, in which I will be reading and reviewing all forty-four of his classic picture-books, in chronological publication order. This is a project that I began as an act of personal protest against the suppression of six of the author/artist's titles - this one, as well as And to Think That I Saw It on Mulberry Street, McElligot's Pool, Scrambled Eggs Super!, On Beyond Zebra! and The Cat's Quizzer - by Dr. Seuss Enterprises, an action I consider both absurd and ill-judged.

I am opposed to this decision on the part of Dr. Seuss Enterprises both on principle - the effects of self-censorship on the part of publishers and news media being every bit as deleterious to a culture of free expression, as anything a tyrannical government could enact - and, in the case of And to Think That I Saw It on Mulberry Street and McElligot's Pool, reviewed previously, on the merits of the individual books themselves. Although there were caricatures in these two earlier titles that I found to be racially and culturally insensitive, they lacked the kind of animus I would think necessary for them to be judged racist, or for any kind of action to reasonably be taken against them (assuming one believed that such an action should ever be taken in the first place). That is, of course, a subjective judgment, and I understand it is by no means universal. As I mentioned in my review of And to Think That I Saw It on Mulberry Street, it is not my place to tell others what they should find offensive or hurtful in the books they read, any more than it is their place to tell me. Unlike some of the self-appointed guardians of morality out there who seem to be applauding this development in censoriousness, I myself was not offended by the titles in question, and did not find them hateful. Sadly, I cannot say the same with this one.

Unlike the aforementioned caricatures in And to Think That I Saw It on Mulberry Street and McElligot's Pool, I found the ostensibly offensive elements in If I Ran the Zoo truly objectionable. I think the difference is that in the earlier books, the depictions in question - the Chinese man with sticks in And to Think That I Saw It on Mulberry Street, the "Eskimo" (AKA Inuit) man next to his igloo in McElligot's Pool - were not demeaning, even though they were satirical, and relied upon stereotype (the Chinese person with chopsticks, the Inuit person in the furry anorak). One could argue that all of Seuss' work is satirical, and that everyone depicted in his books is a bit of a caricature, whatever their racial and cultural background. Here however, the non-European characters are all depicted in ways that not only draw attention to their racial status - the Asian helpers who, according to the text, "all wear their eyes at a slant" - but also invariably show them in subservient roles, or else equate them to animals. The aforementioned Asian helpers who go marching along, carrying a cage on their heads, with Gerald McGrew confidently riding along on top. The tribal chieftain from the Desert of Zind, who, like his Mulligatawny steed, would make a good addition to the zoo, in the narrator's opinion. The eight Persian Princes carrying the Gusset, Gherkin, Gasket and Gootch, whose names (unlike those of the animals they carry) don't need to be remembered. The two little beings - apparently meant to be Central African pygmies? - who carry the Tufted Mazurka from the African island of Yerka, whom I didn't even realize were meant to be human at first, given their depiction. All of these scenes were deeply distasteful to me, and so too was the overarching story-line. The idea of scouring the world for the most wondrous and magical of creatures, only to shove them into tiny cages, would have deeply distressed me as a child, and makes me faintly queasy even now, as an adult.

Clearly, If I Ran the Zoo isn't destined to become one of my favorites, when it comes to Dr. Seuss' work, and I can understand why other readers have found it so offensive, given my own reaction to it. As mentioned above, I am opposed to the suppression of this or any other book, through any form of censorship (including self censorship on the part of the publisher or copyright holder), and I certainly did not approach it with any predisposition to disapprove of it. Nevertheless, disapprove of it I did, and I would not choose to recommend it to, nor to share it with young people, nor would I condemn others - parents, teachers, librarians, storytellers - from following that same course. By the same token however, I would not condemn those who continue to read the book, either to themselves or to the children in their care, and I cannot approve of that choice being taken away from them. They are not bound by my opinions, or by the opinions of any other. In a free society it is no one's place to tell them what they should and should not read, and how they should interpret what they do read. I have seen the argument advanced that the suppression of these Dr. Seuss books is meant, like all forms of (supposedly) benign censorship, to prevent harm, but I think the harm created by the suppression of any work of art and/or literature far outweighs any potential harm created by the consumption of that work of art or literature. People like to decide these things for themselves. I know I do, and I reject outright the idea that I should substitute another's judgment for my own. Thus far in my reading project, I have found two cases where I didn't agree with the critics, and one where I did. I will continue to read, and to think for myself, and hope others will as well. Those who would deny me that right would do well to recall that forbidding something, even obliquely, through suppression rather than outright ban, is to give it great power. In the end, censorious acts are not just totalitarian in nature, but ultimately both stupid and futile. ( )

If Gerald McGrew ran the zoo, he'd let all the animals go and fill it with more unusual beasts--a ten-footed lion, an Elephant-Cat, a Mulligatawny, a Tufted Mazurka, and others.

Now this is my kind of Seuss! Little boys have the wildest imaginations, so Seuss harnesses this endless creativity to showcase a vast range of Seussical animals. From ridiculously tufted birds to creatures that must be wooed with culunary greatness our narrator, Gerald McGrew, tells us exactly how he would travel the world to collect the most stunning creatures imaginable. Lions and tigers and bears might be great, but who wouldn't want to see a zoo filled with Seuss' whimsical animals! ( )

Because of its racist descriptions (“With helpers who all wear their eyes at a slant”) and illustrations, this Dr. Seuss book was not the fun read that I was expecting. Not the best book to celebrate his birthday. ( )

This was a cute story! My 6 and 4 year old loved it! The rhyming words really got their attention as well as the unique illustrations! We love all of the Dr. Seuss stories! Can't wait to share this one with my classroom! ( )

This book would be fun for the classroom because it has a lot of fun animals and imagination in it. I would read in my classroom for sure. ( )

The fantastical beasts are what make this book classic Seuss. Fantastical beasts in fantastical locations. ( )

I loved this book. I love anything written by Dr. Seuss. He is so imaginative, and this book is a really good example of that. It is about this kid named Gerald who visits the zoo, and he does not approve of the "exotic" animals the zoo has. He imagines other animals that would be better option for the zoo. For example, he imagines a bird that eats only pine trees and spits out the bark. It's a great little story about children's imaginations. The pictures in the book more colorful and imaginative as the story goes on. ( )

Dr. Seuss' famous trademark for his children's book are the rhyming and made-up words; which I have enjoyed in this tale. Once more, he showcased how a child's imagination is immense just like how creative Gerald McGrew is in the story. ( )

Dr. Seuss uses comic/cartoons to illustrate his children’s story [If I Ran the Zoo] as his young possible zoo keeper “McGrew” rhymes his way through the many changes he would make. ( )

If I Ran The Zoo is a fiction story that tells of McGrew the zoo keeper, who gets rid of the original animals and with a huge imagination employs new animals. He gets the weirdest wackiest animals he can find to have the best zoo ever. ( )

If I Ran the Zoo is a fun and silly story about McGrew Zoo, a fictitious zoo that houses some of the world’s most diverse and eccentric animals. It all started when a young Gerald McGrew visited a zoo but was less than impressed by its collections of mundane animals. He starts telling a story about how if he had his own zoo, he would travel the world to find the most unusual animals to bring to his zoo. With Seuss’ clever rhyming and word-play, this story was exciting from start to finish.
My favorite aspect about this story is how big Gerald McGrew’s imagination is. He is a young boy visiting the zoo for the very first time and immediately notices all the things he would change. I think this is a subtle yet great way to encourage children to dream bigger and to be adventurous. The sky is the limit in Gerald McGrew’s world.
Another thing I enjoyed about this book was Seuss’ style of writing. His words always rhyme and his stanzas are very punchy. Reading this story felt like I was reading an exciting poem of tongue-twisters and giggles. As I was reading, I noticed I was gradually increasing my speed as the story went on. I sensed that the book had its own rhythm that readers could catch on to. Once I found the rhythm, the story gained incredible amounts of flow and the words were rolling off my tongue.
The illustrations in this book are simple yet very colorful. Each page is filled with vibrant yellows, bold blues and radiant reds to draw the reader in. The drawings themselves remind me of doodles and sketches, but once combined with the bright colors, really come to life and highlight the silliness of McGrew Zoo.
Overall, this book is incredibly silly and lighthearted. I think this is a fun yet effective way to have kids practice with rhyming words and word families. This story may seem juvenile and meaningless; however, the ending of this story says otherwise. Dr. Seuss wanted children to think bigger than what was imaginable so one day they could open an extraordinary zoo of their own. ( )

If I ran the zoo will stimulate and child's imagination. As all children love to imagine and be silly. Dr.Seuss always rhymes and illustrates his pictures well. They always have the same color scheme I find. The pictures are fun and playful and I think kids would love to read this. Just looking at the photos I do not think the pictures tell the story but they do convey the silliness from the text. I had a good time reading this story. I like how it's about a boy dreaming about running the zoo and we are reading about his dreams. A fun project could be to allow students to write a small page about their dreams and draw a picture to go along with it. ( )

a discussion of what a little boy would do if a little boy was in charge of a zoo
1 book

If I ran a Zoo, is a story where a young boy by the name Gerald McGrew imagines if he owned a zoo how he would run it. He talks about "new" is good and is needed for his zoo. He would unlock all of the pens. Talks about all the different animals in his zoo like the sort-of-a-hen that roosts, an elephant cat, and flustard the furry beast. He talks about where the animals come from and what they eat or do. His zoo the McGrew Zoo is the best zoo! ( )

I have fond memories of reading this book at the home of a friend. It must have been 1950 or '51. I was in first or second grade. I loved the way that phonics plus rhyme let me figure out all the nonsense words.

My apologies to those who hated the book - I must admit that whatever racism was there, it went right over my head.

I probably won't ever read it again. ( )

In this Dr. Seuss classic, If I Ran the Zoo tells the story Gerald McGrew as he imagines how he'd run a zoo. This book will stimulate any child's imagination with silly words from silly worlds and mischievously cheeky characters. ( )

Dr. Suess' book made the list for one of the top challenged/banned books for the American Library Association.
The grounds on which this book was challenged was the illustrations...people felt that the illustrations were racist and only based on stereotypical depictions of people of different races and cultures. The book was also controversial because it talks about hunting creatures from different places and taking them captive, essentially, for the zoo.

If I Ran The Zoo is a popular book written by the author we all know and love as Dr. Seuss. This particular book by Dr. Seuss happens to be a challenged book. The story is all about the character in the book named young Gerald McGrew, and he tells the reader all about the different animals he would like to catch if he owned the zoo. Unfortunately, this book is considered racists and a concern for young children. I believe that this book may be considered offensive due to some of the illustrations and the way Dr. Seuss explains the animals he is interested in capturing. For instance, when Dr. Seuss says – “I’ll hunt in the mountains of Zomba-ma-Tant with helpers who all wear their eyes at a slant”. Some readers may consider this racist and may think that Dr. Seuss is stereotyping the Asian culture. Also, there is a passage that may seem racist against Arabians, where Dr. Seuss exclaims the Arabian will be captured along with the animal called a “Mulligatawny”. Although I don’t believe children will be able to pick out this from the passages, when I read them I began to think it may be a little stereotypical, but I don’t believe this was Dr. Seuss’s intentions. I believe Dr. Seuss was just having fun, and as a future teacher, I don’t think this is a story I would avoid having in my class due to these reasons. ( )

Dr. Seuss is known for his wild drawings already, but this book is filled with various, made-up creatures. We are first introduced to a young boy, Gerald McGrew, who is analyzing the lion exhibit at the zoo he is in. The book starts off with small splashes of colors but as we progress into Gerald's imagination the more the amount and intensity of the colors increase. I don't think there was a specific reason why certain elements of the drawings were colored and others were not but the color or absent of color, definitively draws the reader's eyes. ( )

Of course one would want to discuss the racism with the children, but since no offense was meant, I wouldn't worry too much. The character has lots of imagination and little knowledge, whether he's describing fantastic animals, people, or habitats. Companion to [b:And to Think That I Saw it on Mulberry Street|28351|And to Think That I Saw it on Mulberry Street|Dr. Seuss|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1389840830s/28351.jpg|1579656]. ( )

If I ran the zoo is a creative book which follows the thought process of a little boy who dreams of running a zoo one day. This is a fantastic way to introduce a new form of narrative to students, showing them how to write make believe as though it is actually happening. Students could then create their own paragraph or story about how if they did a certain profession, getting them excited about the many things they could be. The wording in this book is phenominal with eye catching illustrations that use Seuss' brightly colored pallet. ( )