An image from Dr. Seuss’s “Wacky Wednesday”, illustrated by Photo: YouTube screenshot
A Republican-backed law has led to the removal of hundreds of books from school libraries in one Tennessee county — including a title by children’s author Dr. Seuss.
Dr. Seuss’s 1974 children’s book Wacky Wednesday is among more than 400 titles that have been banned from school libraries in Wilson Country, Tennessee following changes made to the state’s 2022 “Age Appropriate Materials Act” earlier this year, local ABC affiliate WKRN reported.
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On July 1, ahead of the start of the 2024-2025 school year, the Republican-backed H.B. 843 went into effect. The bill, proposed by state Rep. Susan Lynn (R), amended the 2022 law to require schools to remove all material that “contains nudity, or descriptions or depictions of sexual excitement, sexual conduct, excess violence, or sadomasochistic abuse…is not appropriate for the age or maturity level of a student in any of the grades kindergarten through twelve…or is patently offensive…or appeals to the prurient interest.”
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While Lynn told WKRN in August that “the goal of this law is to keep sexually explicit materials out of the hands of minors,” the outlet notes that critics have said H.B. 843 is so vague that the Bible could be banned from schools. The law has already led one Wilson County high school to shut down its library.
Wilson County Director of Schools Jeff Luttrell, who previously warned about the law’s potential impact, released the list of banned books ahead of a recent school board meeting, but does not appear to have commented on the specific reasons why any of the 400+ titles would be removed. Wacky Wednesday does contain a single page featuring an illustration by George Booth of the book’s school-age protagonist shown naked from behind in the shower.
YouTube screenshot The image that got Dr. Seuss’s “Wacky Wednesday” banned from Tennessee schools | YouTube screenshot
The removal of Wacky Wednesday from Wilson Country school libraries under the Republican-backed law comes more than three years after right-wing pundits blamed the “woke left” for “canceling” Dr. Seuss. Republicans and conservative outlets painted the children’s book author, who died in 1991, as a victim of so-called “cancel culture” after Dr. Seuss Enterprises announced in March 2021 that it would stop publishing six of his books because they contained racist depictions of characters of color.
The company described the books as portraying “people in ways that are hurtful and wrong,” and said in a statement at the time that “Ceasing sales of these books is only part of our commitment and our broader plan to ensure Dr. Seuss Enterprises’s catalog represents and supports all communities and families.”
While the decision to stop publishing the six books was made by Dr. Seuss Enterprises, right-wing outlets like Fox News mischaracterized it as a book ban.
Unsurprisingly, it has actually been Republican-backed laws like Tennessee’s that have resulted in the banning of Dr. Seuss books from schools. Wacky Wednesday was previously removed from school shelves in Texas last year. The title was among 14 books removed from Katy Independent School District classrooms in 2023 after an internal committee deemed them as “inappropriate for children” for reasons the district would not make public, the Houston Chronicle reported last year.
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