Dr. Seuss’s If I Ran the Zoo is an illustrated children’s book about a boy who imagines running his own zoo. Because of the book's racist illustrations, Random House stopped publishing If I Ran the Zoo in 2021.
Disappointed with the dull lion exhibit at the local zoo, Gerald McGrew narrates his dream of traversing the globe to real and imagined countries where he can capture exotic animals and bring them back to his zoo. He speculates that the public will be amazed when they see his wondrous animals, which include a ten-footed lion and an elephant-cat hybrid. The story ends with Gerald standing before the lackluster lion exhibit at his local zoo, in the same spot he stood at the beginning.
Published in 1950, If I Ran the Zoo has been criticized for racially insensitive depictions of Chinese, Nepalese, Pygmy, Persian, Turkish, and Cossack people. After several decades of criticism for these stereotypical caricatures, Dr. Seuss Enterprises ceased publication of the book in 2021. At the time, If I Ran the Zoo and several other Dr. Seuss books pulled from publication for racist imagery briefly became a centerpiece in right-wing arguments against "cancel culture." The Brooklyn Public Library has moved If I Ran the Zoo from regular circulation to its banned books section.
The book is written in anapestic tetrameter, which is Dr. Seuss’s usual verse style. To maintain the rhythm and rhyme scheme, Seuss uses a mixture of real and invented words.
