Although details are still sketchy, it’s clear from the cover that the main character is a boy.
So what’s all the fuss about that? Well, researchers have found that the typical Seuss hero is a small boy or a male animal, and that not one of the 42 children’s books has a female title character.
Dr. Seuss’ new book
“In the few Dr Seuss books where female characters assume relatively major roles, these characters are unlikeable. In Horton Hatches the Egg, Mayzie is a lazy bird who traps Horton into sitting on her egg while she flies off to Palm Beach,” reveals the book Gender Stories (Waveland Press).
And the study found that of all the spoken words, 86 per cent are uttered by males.
In The Cat In the Hat, the book states, the boy narrates the story and catches Thing One and Thing Two, while Sally hides behind her brother and never says a word.
Random House associate publishing director Cathy Goldsmith says What Pet Should I Get? was likely written between 1958 and 1962. The book features the same brother and sister seen in Dr. Seuss’ 1960 classic One Fish Two Fish Red Fish Blue Fish. And the books are still big business, as Green Eggs and Ham is constantly in the best-seller lists.
So what do you think? Are they simply childhood classics? Or too sexist for 2015? And are you looking forward to the new book?
