Reflection One for If I Ran the Zoo

Analysis Summary

Vocabulary Problems:

Gawk, lunks, queer, gootch, preep, proo, nerkle, nerds, and seersucker Nerd -- The illustration of the idea gives the meaning that Nerds are angry and not good looking.

“His animals all have very odd faces. I’ll bet he must hunt them in rather odd places”
“With helpers who all wear their eyes at a slant”
“A mulligatawny is fine for my zoo, and so is a chieftain, I’ll bring one back, too.”
“For those that are ugly and vicious and mean. I’ll build it with my Bad-Animal-Catching-Machine.”
“Are better than those down in Dippo-no-Dungus, and smarter than those out in Nippo-no-Nungus”
“He’s built a zoo better than Noah’s whole Ark”

Bias and Stereotype:

“They ask, when they see my strange animals come, Where do you suppose he gets things like that from? His animals all have such very odd faces. I’ll bet he must hunt them in rather odd places! ’

This phrase is problematic because of the other part of this book.

“FII hunt in the mountains of Zomba-ma-Tant With helpers who all wear their eyes at a slant”

Here the phrase insinuates the animal with slanted eyes which would be a stereotype of Asian descent with an animal.

“I'll capture them fat and I'll capture them scrawny. I'll capture a scrabble doot Mulligatawny, A high-stepping animal fast as the wind From the blistering sands of the Desert of Zind* This beast is the beast that the brave chieftains ride When they want to go fast to find some place to hide. A Mulligatawny is fine for my zoo And so is a chieftain. I'll bring one back, too.”

Culture Context:

This book addresses a wide range of cultures and races in a negative light. The illustrations and descriptions of each animal paint represent people from all over the world negatively and in a stereotypical manner. Students may not initially see the animals as people and see the illustrations as silly and not offensive.

Impact Assessment

Specifically, English language learners in the classroom would have a hard time making connections with this illustrated text because in the story If I Ran the Zoo by Dr. Seuss shows examples of stereotypes of cultures and different groups of people around the world. This text does not represent these students whatsoever instead it paints them in a negative light. It can also be an example of what a problematic book is due to its stereotypical representation of people and how wrong it is to perceive different cultures and ethnicities in a very narrowed stereotypical manner.

Alternative Texts

• The View from the Zoo by Kathleen Long Bostrom
• Love, Violet by Charlotte Sullivan Wild
• Pumpkin Day at the Zoo by Susan Meissner

Guiding Questions

1. How is the characters’ language more inclusive in The View from the Zoo compared to If I Ran the Zoo?
2. How are the animals different from If I Ran the Zoo and The View From the Zoo?
3. How is the illustration a window different from If I Ran the Zoo and The View from the Zoo?
4. How are the characters different in Love, Violet compared to in If I Ran the Zoo?