Discontinued Dr. Seuss Books Are Selling For This Much Online

Dr. Seuss Enterprises made the decision to discontinue printing and licensing six titles by the beloved children’s author because of imagery and descriptions in the titles that were seen as racist, but now, the books may also be seen as collectors' items, which is upping their price in online marketplaces.

The company opted to discontinue publishing and licensing to the titles “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,” because the imagery in the books was seen as racist and insensitive to members of the Black and Asian communities. News of the books no longer being published has led to widespread backlash online and even among politicians, who blamed cancel culture and have turned the situation into a widespread issue.

As a result of the backlash and clamor to still get copies of the titles, the books are available for resale on websites including eBay and Amazon, where private sellers are seeking to capitalize on the clamor to still have copies of the books in their libraries—a phenomenon that Peter Darke, a professor at Toronto’s Schulich School of Business spoke about with The Toronto Star, noting that even though the books were no longer being published because of their racist undertones, nostalgia was promoting a big increase in demand.

“(Sellers and buyers) are likely willing to overlook the racist aspects in the name of things like nostalgia and making money,” he said. “If they are selling it at a surprisingly high price there’s more going on there than just trying to get rid of it.”

As a result, the price of the books has increased dramatically online, with copies of some of the books on Canadian sites listing for several thousand dollars. On American sites, “And to Think That I Saw It on Mulberry Street” is available on eBay for up to $400. Other versions of the book are selling as collector’s items as well, with a price up to $6,500 for a “like new” version on Amazon.

The same phenomenon is following the other books as well, with “The Cat’s Quizzer” going for $386 on eBay and up to $950 on Amazon, “Scrambled Eggs Super” going for $600 on eBay and up to $2,000 on Amazon, “McElligot’s Pool” going for $450 on eBay and up to $2,500 on Amazon, “If I Ran the Zoo” going for $1,399 on eBay and up to $4,999.50 on Amazon and “On Beyond Zebra” selling for $2,999 on eBay and up to $4,000 on Amazon.

The books are only the latest items that have received attention after planned changes were made. Many erupted in a furor when Hasbro announced plans to change Mr. And Mrs. Potato Head toys and make them just “Potato Head,” while there has also been backlash over Disney+ removing some of their films from children’s profiles and putting content warnings on adult ones. Titles affected included “Dumbo” and “Peter Pan.”