Books
‘Hop On Pop’ Hops To Top
First things first, the We Know Products team has no intention of turning this another screechy site constantly engaging with the latest front in the Culture Wars. There is only so much to be said about “cancel culture,” and if you’ve read it on one site, you’ve read it on all of them. We Know Products exists to tell readers about, well, products. We analyze sales trends and report on what we think consumers are (and should be) buying.
When we wrote about the toy formerly known as Mr. Potato Head last week, we took a look at the fact that it was the most popular toy on Amazon immediately following Hasbro’s controversial announcement. Likewise, in talking today about Dr. Seuss’ books, it is to examine the simple fact that the once-beloved children’s author is now dominating the Amazon Best Sellers list.
Seriously, take a look. The top eight bestselling books right now are: “The Cat in the Hat,” “Oh the Places You’ll Go!“, “One Fish Two Fish Red Fish Blue Fish,” “Green Eggs and Ham,” “Fox in Socks,” “What Pet Should I Get?” “The Sneetches and Other Stories,” as well as a Dr. Seuss’s Beginner Book Collection box set. The top 15 also includes “Hop on Pop,” “Horton Hears a Who!“, “Dr. Seuss’s ABC,” and “The Foot Book.”
This isn’t the bestselling children’s book list, mind you. Those are the top books sold on all of Amazon. Interestingly enough, in case you were wondering, “One Fish Two Fish Red Fish Blue Fish” is the #1 bestseller on the list of “Children’s Fish Books.” And “Oh, the Place You’ll Go!” is #1 on the list of Children’s Jobs & Careers Reference Books. To be honest, I think the very fact that that category exists is as much of an indictment against our culture than any news-making publishing house decisions.
Oh, the Places You’ll Go! — $8.98
In our article on Potato Head-gate, we noted that it was difficult to parse exactly what the increase in anthropomorphic spud sales meant. Not so with Dr. Seuss. One day after it was announced that six Dr. Seuss titles would be pulled from publication, his remaining titles shot up the charts.
There is no other way to interpret this than as the purchases of a scared nation: Although only six books were officially “canceled,” the government claimed that the author and his entire oeuvre was problematic, severing the link between Dr. Seuss and the National Read Across America Day that just so happens to take place annually on his birthday. Stocking up on Dr. Seuss books now is insurance against future rulings on what is and isn’t allowed in this supposedly free nation.