Picture Book Wednesday: This Book is Banned

This book talks about book banning in a light-hearted way, but it gets the point across for even the smallest of readers. While book banning is a very serious matter, this book is humorous. 

If you're looking for a way to explain book banning to young children, this is it. The ending is really well done. Add this book to your school and public library. 

* Book sent for review 

Banned Book Week 2012

This week marks the 30th anniversary of Banned Book Week, where bookish people celebrate their freedom of choice in choosing what to read.
This week brings attention to books that people frown upon and try to remove from certain libraries, book stores, or burn them so no one can read them. While it's great that this week makes people aware of those wanting to curtail their reading habits, it's still sad that people are challenging books.
You can read my rant from last year - about censoring teen books.

Here's the display at Otis Library this year. We decided on a jail cell this cell - cell 451 to be exact.

All a close up view

Here's a list and graphics from the ALA site about the books reported last year - 326!!

2011

Out of 326 challenges as reported by the Office for Intellectual Freedom

1. ttyl; ttfn; l8r, g8r (series), by Lauren Myracle
   Reasons: offensive language; religious viewpoint; sexually explicit; unsuited to age group
2. The Color of Earth (series), by Kim Dong Hwa
   Reasons: nudity; sex education; sexually explicit; unsuited to age group
3. The Hunger Games trilogy, by Suzanne Collins
   Reasons: anti-ethnic; anti-family; insensitivity; offensive language; occult/satanic; violence
4. My Mom's Having A Baby! A Kid's Month-by-Month Guide to Pregnancy, by Dori Hillestad Butler
   Reasons: nudity; sex education; sexually explicit; unsuited to age group
5. The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian, by Sherman Alexie
   Reasons: offensive language; racism; religious viewpoint; sexually explicit; unsuited to age group
6. Alice (series), by Phyllis Reynolds Naylor
   Reasons: nudity; offensive language; religious viewpoint
7. Brave New World, by Aldous Huxley
   Reasons: insensitivity; nudity; racism; religious viewpoint; sexually explicit
8. What My Mother Doesn't Know, by Sonya Sones
   Reasons: nudity; offensive language; sexually explicit
9. Gossip Girl (series), by Cecily Von Ziegesar
   Reasons: drugs; offensive language; sexually explicit
10. To Kill a Mockingbird, by Harper Lee
    Reasons: offensive language; racism

Banned Books: Censorship of teen books

Censorship is never ok. As a teen librarian, it pains and horrifies me to read about teen books being either banned or challenge. I hate reading that one man thought Speak had pornographic scenes. That's wrong on so many levels and so many of us in the book world have expressed outrage. I'm not going to talk about that.

Instead I want to talk about decisions. The reasons behind the banning/challenging teen books consist mainly due to sex, drug, language, or topics too mature for teens to handle. I don't think any of these "reasons" gives any one person or a group of people the right to revoke someone else's reading privileges.

Teens struggle every day with making decisions. It's awesome that they have SO many books to read to help them identify in their struggles. Teens can't always talk to their mom, their BFF, their boyfriend, or anyone else. They might be embarrassed or shy or not really sure how to put their feelings into words. Books can help guide someone through a tough decision or a tough time. Books can help. Books can heal. Books can work miracles.

And when that right book comes around at the exact moment it's needed, it could change someone's life. It could help them SPEAK. It could help them make an amazing decision. It could give them courage, hope, or the ability to dream.

How could you think of taking that away from someone else?