Banned Book Week

I am proud to say that I read banned books! Every year in September, the American Library Association (ALA) has banned book week to bring awareness to censorship. 

Censorship is bad. I know that is a shocking statement, but very few things get me as upset as someone else trying to control what other people read. 

As I explain to my students, there is nothing wrong with a parent making decisions about what their child reads, but when they try to regulate what other people's children read that becomes a problem.  As a parent myself, I don't want anyone else telling my child what they can and cannot read. 

Whenever possible, I like to spend a day with my students during this week talking about censorship, and why it is dangerous. I pull in historical examples such as Nazi Germany book burnings and communist countries attempts to limit information. 

In the U.S. each year hundreds of books are challenged.  This attempt to censor is fundamental against American values, but it still happens regularly.  Children's and Young Adult literature is not exempt from this, in fact, they are often some of the most challenging literature.  Popular children's and young adult series that are regularly challenged include Harry Potter, Junie B. Jones, Goosebumps, and Captain Underpants. In fact, the Harry Potter Series still regularly makes it into the top 10 challenged titles even decades after its initial release. I think it is important to make our students aware of this and encourage them to support free speech and literature. 

You can do this by reading challenged children's books and discuss why they may have been challenged. There are suggestions are below.

Challenged Children's' Books That Might Suprise You

1. The Story of Ferdinand by Munro Leaf  (Promoting a Pacifist Agenda)
2. Hop on Pop by Dr. Seuss (Inciting Violence)
3. Where the Wild Things Are by Maurice Sendak (Supernatural Elements, Too Dark)
4. The Giving Tree by Shel Silverstein (Sexism, Criminalizing the Forestry Agency)
5. Brown Bear, Brown Bear, What do You See? by Bill Martin, Jr. (Confused Author with Marxist Author)

Give students a list of books in which they have to figure out which have been challenged and which haven't. (I would probably have the list only include challenged titles to illustrate how people will go after almost any book.)  Then they have to figure out why books have been challenged. 

I also suggest you share with your students some of your favorite banned books.  Below is a list of some of my favorites. 

Five of My Favorite Banned Books

1. To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee (Racial Themes, Profanity, Rape)
2. The Giver by Lois Lowry (Sexuality, Euthanasia, Infanticide, Suicide)
3. Speak by Laurie Halse Anderson (Sexual Content, Rape)
4. Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury  (Profanity, Sexual Content, Drugs)
5. A Wrinkle in Time by Madeline L'Engle (Occult, Anti-Religion)

If you are looking for more resources or information about Banned Book Week please visit the ALA's Banned Book Week website or The Banned Books Project by Carnegie Mellon University.