Like most parents, I could probably recite a handful of children’s books from memory. I have Go, Dog, Go! and all of the Janice Dean Freddy the Frogcaster books seared into my brain, and when I’m old and gray, I’ll be able to hit play and bring them back. Several Dr. Seuss classics are in there too: Cat in the Hat and Fox in Socks are two of them. I’ll be honest: They drive me nuts. But they drive me nuts for the same reasons my children want to hear them over and over, and why I acquiesce; the silly rhymes that drive me up the wall are teaching my children literacy skills.

It’s a good thing I’ve got some of these books committed to memory because soon, they may not be available on library or store shelves anymore. Yesterday, on Dr. Seuss’s birthday, Dr. Seuss Enterprises, the company supposedly responsible for celebrating and honoring the work of Theodor Seuss “Ted” Geisel, decided to remove from print six of the author’s works. Some are obscure, but others, such as And to Think That I saw It on Mulberry Street, If I Ran the Zoo, and McGelligot’s Pool were so central to his legacy that they were all included in our now priceless treasury collection of 15 Dr. Seuss classics. That treasury, which I purchased for $10.99 in 2017, is now selling for $500 on Amazon, with individual copies of If I Ran the Zoo listed for $1,000.