Some of the reaction recently by the estate of Dr. Seuss, known in real life as Theodor Geisel, making the decision to stop publishing six of his books, has been extreme. Folks have been crying out “cancel culture” as some of the books that were published before they were even born have been taken off of shelves.

The books that are being removed are “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.” This decision was made by Dr. Seuss Enterprises because of racist and insensitive imagery.

For those who are running around and claiming that this is a wild attack on an institution by the left—and in some accounts, the right—you might want to apply the brakes and take a closer look. This decision was announced by the company that publishes the books, which honestly has all the right in the world to decide which books will and will not continue to be published, although most companies tend to just pull the plug without making a big announcement.

With that said, I think the decision to stop publishing the books entirely is shortsighted. The fault is being found in the images, not the writing, and images can be adjusted, especially in this day and age when it is so easy to digitally alter something and make it “right.” The imagery could be changed so it wasn’t offensive, but the stories could persevere and continue to entertain and enlighten young minds.

Of course, to make it seamless, Dr. Seuss Enterprises would need to redo the art throughout the books, because it would look pretty weird to alter just one or two pages. It’d be like looking through a book featuring the art of Van Gogh and seeing a Picasso painting on page 46. However, you’re not dealing with a struggling author with only a couple of books. You’re dealing with a literary superstar with hundreds of books that sell millions every year, so they can afford an art redo.

If it had been Seuss’ words that were deemed to be offensive, that would get a little dicey. As a published author myself, I cringe whenever someone tries to change what an author is trying to say. I believe that when I write something, there’s a specific reason that I decided on the specific words I used. For someone to try to change those words now that the author has been long dead would raise my hackles, as that would be censorship.

There are plenty of books out there that have certain words, phrases or scenes that people would find offensive. I woke up this morning to read my hometown newspaper, and I came across a political cartoon featuring Mark Twain, who stated that he used a certain N-word 219 times when he wrote his novel “Huckleberry Finn,” and that book is still being published.

However, I’d like to think that most of us have evolved as a society to figure out that, when we see an offensive word in a book, that we know that there’s a reason the word is there, even if we find it distasteful or disgusting. We don’t need a panel of experts to tell us that a book is bad because of the imagery inside, and we don’t need to be treated like children when we’re the ones responsible for deciding what our children should read.

You also have to keep in mind that the decision to stop publishing the books does nothing to address the copies that have already been published. They’re already out there, and it’s unlikely that they’re all going to disappear. Those books will still exist, and the offensive imagery will still be present when someone picks it up and turns the pages. Ergo, the phrase “cancel culture” does not apply.

Ironically, I came across some news reports that announced that Seuss books—at least the ones still in circulation—are selling like hotcakes right now. I think it’s for the same reason that gun sales swell when someone starts talking about curtailing our Second Amendment rights; we just don’t like to be told “no.”

Dr. Seuss Enterprises erred by pulling the books permanently. If it was smart, it would fix the offensive imagery and put the books back in circulation. After all, it wasn’t the stories that caused the purists to clutch their pearls, only the art, and the stories can still be relevant in today’s society.

However, don’t try to tell me the incident can be blamed on “cancel culture.” Those are two words that aren’t descriptive of what has happened.