Springfield Mayor Domenic Sarno has come to the defense of hometown hero Dr. Seuss, slamming the Cambridge school librarian who rejected First Lady Melania Trump's donation of 10 Dr. Seuss books as part of National Read a Book Day.

Cambridgeport Elementary School Librarian Liz Phipps Soeiro turned down the books in an open letter, saying both that the donations should have gone to schools in greater need and criticizing Seuss as racist.

"You may not be aware of this, but Dr. Seuss is a bit of a cliche, a tired and worn ambassador for children's literature," Phipps wrote on Horn Book's Family Reading blog. "Another fact that many people are unaware of is that Dr. Seuss's illustrations are steeped in racist propaganda, caricatures, and harmful stereotypes. Open one of his books and you'll see the racist mockery in his art."

In a press release Thursday evening, Sarno made clear he did not like the way Soeiro's bread was buttered.

"'One fish - two fish - red fish - blue fish' - I think her comments 'stink' and are ridiculous towards our beloved Dr. Seuss," Sarno said. "Her comments that this is 'racist propaganda and that Dr. Seuss is a bit of a cliche and a tired and worn ambassador for children's literature' is 'political correctness' at its worst."

Seuss -- birth name, Theodor Geisel -- was born and raised in Springfield, and is one of the city's foremost celebrities. The Dr. Seuss National Memorial Sculpture Garden has drawn children and their parents to the Quadrangle for 15 years, and this summer the city celebrated the opening of the Amazing World of Dr. Seuss Museum.

Seuss was a vocal anti-fascist voice during World War II, drawing cartoons that warned of the Nazi threat before America entered the war and criticized racial prejudice.

But he also drew stereotyped anti-Japanese propaganda cartoons during the war, and included caricatured depictions of minorities in children's books like "And to Think That I Saw it on Mulberry Street" and "If I Ran the Zoo." In her letter, Soeiro links to an article that suggest the character of the Cat in the Hat has roots in "blackface minstrelsy."

Sarno rejected the criticism, and praised the First Lady for the White House's donation -- and extended an offer for her and President Donald Trump to visit Springfield.

"Dr. Seuss books continue to be a strong tool in our city's marked improvements in our reading retention programs," Sarno said. "By the way, kudos to First Lady Melania Trump for her generous offer to donate Dr. Seuss books to that Cambridge school library - they don't want them - we'll take them and would be honored to have the First Lady and President Trump to visit the Amazing World of Dr. Seuss Museum too."