The Lorax

I would imagine my son and I have read The Lorax close to a hundred times by now — there was a phase he went through where it was the book he wanted me to read to him, every night, and it remains one of his favorites. In fact, when asked to choose a favorite book to bring to school not too long ago, this is the one he selected.

(Often when we notice a building or vehicle belching smoke into the sky, he'll remark "The Lorax wouldn't like that.")

According to this, the Ohio Sea Grant Program wrote to Dr. Seuss in 1985 and asked that he reconsider the reference, “I hear things are just as bad up in Lake Erie,” as conditions had improved considerably since the book was first published, in 1971. (The Cuyahoga River, a tributary that feeds into the lake at Cleveland, Ohio, famously caught fire in 1969.) Dr. Seuss agreed, and said that the line wouldn’t appear in future editions.

The well-read, much loved copy I have, which dates from the early 1980s, still includes the line. (I bought virtually all of the Dr. Seuss books I have almost 20 years before my son was born.) I checked Amazon's "Search Inside The Book" feature, and while it does appear that the reference has been removed, they can't show me that page.

This will require a visit to the book store...