Scrambled Eggs Super!
{{Short description|1953 book by Dr. Seuss}}{{Infobox book |
| name = Scrambled Eggs Super!
| title_orig =
| translator =
| image = Scrambled Eggs Super.jpg
| caption =
| author = Dr. Seuss
| cover_artist =
| country = United States
| language = English
| series =
| genre = Children's literature
| publisher = Random House
| pub_date = 1953
| media_type = Print (hardcover)
| pages = 64
| isbn = 978-0-394-80085-1
| oclc =
| preceded_by = If I Ran the Zoo
| followed_by = Horton Hears a Who!
}}
{{Portal |Children's literature}}
Scrambled Eggs Super! is a 1953 children's book written and illustrated by American children's author Dr. Seuss. The story is told from the point of view of a boy named Peter T. Hooper, who makes scrambled eggs prepared from eggs belonging to various exotic birds.
Plot
At the beginning of the story, Peter T. Hooper brags to his sister, Liz, in his mother's kitchen about what a good cook he is. He tells the story of how, when he tired of the taste of regular scrambled eggs using hen's eggs, he decided to scramble eggs from other birds. He tells of how he travelled great distances and discovered a variety of exotic birds and their eggs.
He explains his criteria for choosing some eggs, because of their sweetness, and avoiding others. He takes the eggs home but decides that he still needs more, and he calls on the help of some of his friends from around the world, including a "fellow named Ali". After each bird Peter finds he states the phrase..."Scrambled Eggs Super Dee Dooper Dee Booper Special Deluxe a la Peter T. Hooper".
Legacy
In the 2008 American animated film Horton Hears a Who!, Long-Legger Kwongs and Ruffle-Necked Sala-ma-gooxes appear as residents of the Jungle of Nool.{{cite web | url=https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/WesternAnimation/HortonHearsAWho2008 | title=Horton Hears a Who! (2008) }}
Critical reception
Ruth C. Barlow of the Christian Science Monitor called it a "gay extravaganza".{{cite news|url=https://pqasb.pqarchiver.com/csmonitor_historic/access/274072032.html?dids=274072032:274072032&FMT=ABS&FMTS=ABS:AI&date=Jul+30%2C+1953&author=By+Ruth+C.+Barlow&pub=Christian+Science+Monitor&desc=Keeping+Up+With+the+Juniors&pqatl=google|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121104225212/http://pqasb.pqarchiver.com/csmonitor_historic/access/274072032.html?dids=274072032:274072032&FMT=ABS&FMTS=ABS:AI&date=Jul+30,+1953&author=By+Ruth+C.+Barlow&pub=Christian+Science+Monitor&desc=Keeping+Up+With+the+Juniors&pqatl=google|url-status=dead|archive-date=November 4, 2012|title=Keeping Up With the Juniors|last=Barlow|first=Ruth C.|date=30 July 1953|work=Christian Science Monitor|access-date=2 January 2011}}
It also received positive reviews from Chicago Sunday Tribune and The New York Herald Tribune for Seuss's illustrations of the birds.{{cite book|last=Fensch|first=Thomas|title=The Man Who Was Dr. Seuss: The Life and Work of Theodor Geisel |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=BzqrX46iFwAC&pg=PA106 |publisher=New Century Books|isbn=0-930751-11-6|pages=196–197|date=September 2001}}
Phillip Nel, in the book Dr. Seuss: American Icon, wrote that Scrambled Eggs Super! was one of Seuss's less politically oriented books.{{cite book|last=Nel|first=Phillip|title=Dr. Seuss: American icon|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=IjvHQsCn_pgC&pg=PA148 |publisher=Continuum International|isbn=0-8264-1708-6|pages=148–149|date=January 2005}}
Withdrawal
On March 2, 2021, Dr. Seuss Enterprises, the owner of the rights to Seuss's works, withdrew Scrambled Eggs Super! and five other books because they "portray people in ways that are hurtful and wrong".{{cite news |first1=Amanda|last1=Watts |last2=Asmelash |first2=Leah |title=6 Dr. Seuss books won't be published anymore because they portray people in 'hurtful and wrong' ways |url=https://www.cnn.com/2021/03/02/us/dr-seuss-books-cease-publication-trnd/index.html |access-date=2 March 2021 |work=CNN |date=2 March 2021}}{{cite web|first=Mark|last=Pratt|url=https://www.ctvnews.ca/entertainment/six-dr-seuss-books-won-t-be-published-for-racist-images-1.5329838|work=CTV News|title=Six Dr. Seuss books won't be published for racist images|date=March 2, 2021|access-date=March 2, 2021}}{{citation|first=Jenny|last=Gross|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2021/03/02/books/dr-seuss-mulberry-street.html?|work=The New York Times|title=6 Dr. Seuss Books Will No Longer Be Published Over Offensive Images|date=March 2, 2021|access-date=March 2, 2021}} The possible scene perceived as "hurtful" is a two page illustration of five persons in a boat from a fictional location (named "Fa-Zoal") near the North Pole, wearing hooded fur parkas (i.e., the moustached white assistants seen elsewhere in the book in cold-weather gear), as these persons endeavored to collect eggs from fantastical birds called "Grice" which "lay eggs on the ice".{{cite web|date=March 3, 2021|access-date=March 4, 2021|first=Tristan|last=Hopper|title=Here are the 'wrong' illustrations that got six Dr. Seuss books cancelled|url=https://nationalpost.com/entertainment/books/here-are-the-wrong-illustrations-that-got-six-dr-seuss-books-cancelled|work=National Post}}