The State - News from Sept. 14, 1989

Children’s author Dr. Seuss is under attack by logging families in a rural Northern California town who want his 1971 classic, “The Lorax,” axed as required reading for their children. A special committee of the Laytonville Unified School District is considering a complaint that the book “criminalizes” tree-cutting. The committee will make a recommendation to the school board. Teachers of the Mendocino County community, for the second year and with board approval, placed “The Lorax”--which criticizes the destruction of the Earth’s forests--on its required reading list for second graders. But Judith Baily, whose husband, Bill, is a logging equipment wholesaler, filed a complaint with the district demanding that the book be, at least, downgraded to optional reading. Dr. Seuss, 85, an award-winning children’s author whose real name is Theodor Geisel, and his publisher, Random House, have had no comment on the matter.