 The use of the word " burp " — " plain little Mack did a plain little thing . He burped ! " — was also an issue before publication . According to Seuss , the publishers at Random House , including the president , had to meet to decide whether or not they could use " burp " because " nobody had ever burped before on the pages of a children 's book " . However , despite the publishers ' initial worries , it eventually proved to be a hit — in 2001 , Publishers Weekly reported that it was 125th on the list of best @-@ selling hardcover children 's books in the United States , at just over one million copies . 
