Two years ago NEA changed the focus of Read Across America away from Dr. Seuss and to “Celebrating a Nation of Diverse Readers” – moving away from a singular focus on, and raising up of, one white male author who has a history of racist imagery* and toward a year-long celebration of the diversity that makes our country what it is. Yet many schools still cling to the tradition without using a critical lens to consider what message the year after year celebration of just one author sends to students. Dr. Seuss can be both a beloved author AND ALSO problematic. So it’s time to move away from a day and week celebrating Seuss and into a focus on inclusive choices that more kids can relate to.

Because we cannot let nostalgia guide our decisions. Because we cannot allow racist or stereotyped imagery to be part of what we promote through our read aloud choices. Because we cannot refuse to move on from the past and bypass our responsibility to represent the entirety of what America is about today. 

This year, I selected 5 titles for each of the 5 regions of the United States 

(Northeast, Southeast, South, West, Midwest) you could use next week to 

truly represent and Read Across the Regions of America.

READ ACROSS the Regions of AMERICA
*You can shop this list, through my Bookshop affiliate link supporting independent bookstores + my work.

You can also access the Google slideshow using this link. You can then save as a shortcut to your Drive.
It is not open for making a copy to protect the integrity of the work & ensure you will see any changes.
If you trying to share with students and getting blocked by enterprise Google settings, use this published to the web version for sharing.

If you are looking for alternatives to traditional purposes for Dr. Seuss books, this post from Teach for the Change on Instagram is a good starting point. 

*If you’re unaware of the issues with Dr. Seuss, these links will be helpful:
The Cat is Out of the Bag: Orientalism, Anti-Blackness, and White Supremacy in Dr. Seuss’s Children’s Books

Is the Cat in the Hat Racist? Read Across America Shifts Away From Dr. Seuss and Toward Diverse Books (School Library Journal)

Thread from The Conscious Kid in the #DisruptTexts slow chat

New Study Published on Racism and Dr. Seuss (School Library Journal)

Because we cannot let nostalgia guide our decisions. Because we cannot allow racist or stereotyped imagery to be part of what we promote through our read aloud choices. Because we cannot refuse to move on from the past and bypass our responsibility to represent the entirety of what America is about today. 

As we head into Read Across America Day, here is a list of some alternative titles that would all make valuable choices as a replacement for Dr. Seuss in your read alouds this week.

by Jason Chin

*If you’re unaware of the issues with Dr. Seuss, these links will be helpful:
The Cat is Out of the Bag: Orientalism, Anti-Blackness, and White Supremacy in Dr. Seuss’s Children’s Books

Is the Cat in the Hat Racist? Read Across America Shifts Away From Dr. Seuss and Toward Diverse Books (School Library Journal)

Thread from The Conscious Kid in the #DisruptTexts slow chat

New Study Published on Racism and Dr. Seuss (School Library Journal)

Early in my career, I would decorate my classroom the night before, and the day of we would celebrate Dr. Seuss’ birthday with cupcakes and a bookmark design contest. Yes, you read that right, on a day of celebrating reading, my students did a crafty project instead of actually reading. Now, that’s not to say it wasn’t a fun activity – it was, and the bookmark had to be done around a theme of encouraging or celebrating reading. It also built classroom community as I selected finalists in each class period for favorite designs and then had students vote on their favorite that would be copied for each student to have. I even had a reading display that stayed up year round where I displayed the winning bookmark designs from over the years. I loved it and it was a fun day “off” for my middle schoolers. But was it really meeting my purpose?

You see, as my understanding of the research in reading achievement and engagement grew, I realized that the number one thing students need to be doing is reading things they’re interested in and able to read. And here I was, on a day that was all about celebrating reading, and neither my students nor I were reading anything! I of course had the best of intentions, but wasn’t going about it the right way. As my beliefs evolved, I knew that a day celebrating reading should allow students to read as much as possible. Often when I would tell my students it was the end of their independent daily reading time, they would groan and ask for more time to read. Well, what better day to let that happen than Read Across America Day. We would get comfy and read independently for the whole class period along with sharing a picture book (or two or three) read aloud. I would also have a “read-in” during my RtI class time on that day, and with other grade level group in a special spot in the building.

That’s not to say we shouldn’t still have cupcakes and decorations to make it feel like more of a celebratory day – those are fun things for the classroom community. But if the focus is on celebrating reading, we should make sure the celebration doesn’t take over the reading part. What we do, and where we devote our time matters. It matters for the time we spend, and it matters for the messsge it sends to students. Having multiple and varied opportunities to read throughout the day makes it’s own sort of celebration around reading and keeps the focus where it should be – reading being its own reward. And what better day to “just” read for a day of school than Dr. Seuss’ birthday? I hope you have a great day celebrating reading tomorrow, and spend a lot of time reading with your students.