September 24th to September 30th is Banned Book Week. In 1966 I read all of the banned books I could find. They were some incredible books that I will celebrate later in the week. I have learned that most librarians when pushed may move a book to another section, but they generally are very pro-reading and anti-censorship when it comes to literature.
It has been an adventure this week looking at some great literature that bugged someone at some time. Often the reasoning is silly, like Charlotte’s Web for In 2003, the school’s head teacher said that all books featuring pigs should be removed because it could offend Muslim students and parents. However, Islamic leaders asked the school to drop the ban of the book.
In 2006, Parents from Kansas considered the book of talking animals profane and unnatural. They said that the spider dying was “inappropriate for a children’s book.” The parents also said “humans are the highest level of God’s creation and are the only creatures that can communicate vocally and is disrespectful to God.”
The Scarlet Letter was challenged on sexual grounds, and has been called ‘pornographic’ and ‘obscene’. There are no sex scenes at all in the book, and no sexual language.
Best of all The Merriam-Webster Dictionary for including a definition for oral sex.
We now have a new reading list!
www.ala.org/advocacy/bbooks
