Can't you just hear book-banning crazies yelling that over the tops of their signs and their burning torches?
Some of the most frequently banned and challenged books are childrens books, the books that many of us read, loved and can't wait to read with our own kids.
The idea of banning kids books is so foreign to me, because by and large, something is not going

But every year, parents, teachers and librarians across the country find fault with some kids' books and feel the need to challenge them, ban them or remove them from circulation. Often, the reasons are surprisingly (or not) ridiculous.
For example:
Shel Silverstein
Two of Silverstein's other books, A Light in the Attic and Where the Sidewalk Ends have both been banned and challenged.


ROALD DAHL:


C.S. LEWIS

DR. SEUSS Yep, that Dr. Seuss. My all-time favorite book by the beloved Doctor, The Lorax

LAURA INGALLS WILDER
The Little House books, especially Little House in the Big Woods and Little House on the Prairie are challenged fairly frequently.


and lastly:
Where's Waldo by Martin Hanford was challenged in the Saginaw, Mi. Public Library System

So there's your list of absurdity for the day. I think we can all ask ourselves one question. What's going on Wisconsin? Most of these are from you.
As a parting gift to you:
Here is the ALA list of Most Frequently Banned and Challenged books of the 90s, many of them childrens books:
- Scary Stories (Series) by Alvin Schwartz
- Daddy’s Roommate by Michael Willhoite
- I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings by Maya Angelou
- The Chocolate War by Robert Cormier
- The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain
- Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck
- Harry Potter (Series) by J.K. Rowling
- Forever by Judy Blume
- Bridge to Terabithia by Katherine Paterson
- Alice (Series) by Phyllis Reynolds Naylor
- Heather Has Two Mommies by Leslea Newman
- My Brother Sam is Dead by James Lincoln Collier and Christopher Collier
- The Catcher in the Rye by J.D. Salinger
- The Giver by Lois Lowry
- It’s Perfectly Normal by Robie Harris
- Goosebumps (Series) by R.L. Stine
- A Day No Pigs Would Die by Robert Newton Peck
- The Color Purple by Alice Walker
- Sex by Madonna
- Earth’s Children (Series) by Jean M. Auel
- The Great Gilly Hopkins by Katherine Paterson
- A Wrinkle in Time by Madeleine L’Engle
- Go Ask Alice by Anonymous
- Fallen Angels by Walter Dean Myers
- In the Night Kitchen by Maurice Sendak
- The Stupids (Series) by Harry Allard
- The Witches by Roald Dahl
- The New Joy of Gay Sex by Charles Silverstein
- Anastasia Krupnik (Series) by Lois Lowry
- The Goats by Brock Cole
- Kaffir Boy by Mark Mathabane
- Blubber by Judy Blume
- Killing Mr. Griffin by Lois Duncan
- Halloween ABC by Eve Merriam
- We All Fall Down by Robert Cormier
- Final Exit by Derek Humphry
- The Handmaid’s Tale by Margaret Atwood
- Julie of the Wolves by Jean Craighead George
- The Bluest Eye by Toni Morrison
- What’s Happening to my Body? Book for Girls: A Growing-Up Guide for Parents & Daughters by Lynda Madaras
- To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee
- Beloved by Toni Morrison
- The Outsiders by S.E. Hinton
- The Pigman by Paul Zindel
- Bumps in the Night by Harry Allard
- Deenie by Judy Blume
- Flowers for Algernon by Daniel Keyes
- Annie on my Mind by Nancy Garden
- The Boy Who Lost His Face by Louis Sachar
- Cross Your Fingers, Spit in Your Hat by Alvin Schwartz
- A Light in the Attic by Shel Silverstein
- Brave New World by Aldous Huxley
- Sleeping Beauty Trilogy by A.N. Roquelaure (Anne Rice)
- Asking About Sex and Growing Up by Joanna Cole
- Cujo by Stephen King
- James and the Giant Peach by Roald Dahl
- The Anarchist Cookbook by William Powell
- Boys and Sex by Wardell Pomeroy
- Ordinary People by Judith Guest
- American Psycho by Bret Easton Ellis
- What’s Happening to my Body? Book for Boys: A Growing-Up Guide for Parents & Sons by Lynda Madaras
- Are You There, God? It’s Me, Margaret by Judy Blume
- Crazy Lady by Jane Conly
- Athletic Shorts by Chris Crutcher
- Fade by Robert Cormier
- Guess What? by Mem Fox
- The House of Spirits by Isabel Allende
- The Face on the Milk Carton by Caroline Cooney
- Slaughterhouse-Five by Kurt Vonnegut
- Lord of the Flies by William Golding
- Native Son by Richard Wright
- Women on Top: How Real Life Has Changed Women’s Fantasies by Nancy Friday
- Curses, Hexes and Spells by Daniel Cohen
- Jack by A.M. Homes
- Bless Me, Ultima by Rudolfo A. Anaya
- Where Did I Come From? by Peter Mayle
- Carrie by Stephen King
- Tiger Eyes by Judy Blume
- On My Honor by Marion Dane Bauer
- Arizona Kid by Ron Koertge
- Family Secrets by Norma Klein
- Mommy Laid An Egg by Babette Cole
- The Dead Zone by Stephen King
- The Adventures of Tom Sawyer by Mark Twain
- Song of Solomon by Toni Morrison
- Always Running by Luis Rodriguez
- Private Parts by Howard Stern
- Where’s Waldo? by Martin Hanford
- Summer of My German Soldier by Bette Greene
- Little Black Sambo by Helen Bannerman
- Pillars of the Earth by Ken Follett
- Running Loose by Chris Crutcher
- Sex Education by Jenny Davis
- The Drowning of Stephen Jones by Bette Greene
- Girls and Sex by Wardell Pomeroy
- How to Eat Fried Worms by Thomas Rockwell
- View from the Cherry Tree by Willo Davis Roberts
- The Headless Cupid by Zilpha Keatley Snyder
- The Terrorist by Caroline Cooney
- Jump Ship to Freedom by James Lincoln Collier and Christopher Collier
A Light in the Attic "glorified Satan, suicide and cannibalism, and also encouraged children to be disobedient"? I have to say, I don't remember all that either.
ReplyDeleteBut now I definitely want to read it! (Funny how trying to ban books has that effect...)
Hmm, I grew up in Wisconsin and read many of the books on the list. My kids went to parochial school in Wisconsin and read some of the books on the list - so I'm wondering where in Wisconsin are these books banned?
ReplyDeleteWow, that's crazy. I want to look up to see what's been banned in my state!
ReplyDeleteGofita, here's a link to a map that shows bannings in the US from 2007-2009. Plus, you can always google your state and censorship/book banning/challenging, etc. I was surprised by how much there was in Michigan, but also surprised by how many progressive anti-censorship things I found for Mi.
ReplyDeleteThe Earth's Children series! I LOVED these as a teenager and got them from my school library, with encouraging nods and plaudits from our sweet librarians as I borrowed them. Wall-to-wall sex in parts. They were rather liberal-minded ladies!
ReplyDeleteMisty, this is an awesome post.
ReplyDeleteI agree, if a book is inappropriate it just won't be published. Period!
Pak Karamu visiting your blog
ReplyDeleteI find it kind of weird that I didn't even really know about book banning when I was growing up...even in high school. I guess I should be thankful that I had amazing teachers that told me to read (& most of the books are on that list) and most of all for having great parents that never ever discouraged my reading. They would just tell me to rest my eyes when they turned red from all the reading.
ReplyDeleteLast night while I was working we noticed that a Winnie the Pooh book was banned. Can't figure that one out!
ReplyDeleteRhiannon, that's hilarious. Yeah,my mom bought me VC Andrews books as a kid, and thank god she didn't know what went on in them...
ReplyDeleteJenn-ay: good, that's the way it should be.
Rachel: this made me curious so I looked it up. The only thing I could find was that some muslim countries have banned Pooh because of Piglet, for being a pig and all...
hi, just visiting from La Coccinelle's site where I too received an award - always nice as it's another way of finding out about other bloggers.
ReplyDeleteI've enjoyed looking at your site and thought some of your observations on banned books were interesting. It's suprising just how many banned books I've actually read. Quite how or why most of them are on there I don't know.
Thanks for stopping by, Petty Witter!
ReplyDeleteThe reasons for banning books are normally pretty bizarre or just lame, as I showed up ^there^. Schools, libraries and very rarely communities ban and challenge books (at least here in the US; abroad, whole gov't's do, and the consequences can be pretty extreme).
Congrats on the award!