If I Ran the Zoo

Dr. Seuss's 1950 verse tale stars young Gerald McGrew, who finds the zoo's animals too dull. If he ran it, he would set them free and travel the world collecting stranger creatures. His imagined exhibits include a lion with ten feet, the Fizza-ma-Wizza-ma-Dill, a Nerkle and a Nerd, an early printed use of that word. In 2021 Dr. Seuss Enterprises announced it would stop publishing the book, saying it portrays people in ways that are hurtful and wrong.

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Richard Branson: “I have been reading a lot of books by one of my favourite authors, Dr Seuss... There is more wisdom and humour in his cartoons and rhymes than in any number of lengthy and highbrow books.”