I’ve been reading up on banned books lately. It’s quite interesting really. There is even a week dedicated to banned books. September 29 through October 6, 2007. That’s this years week, it’s the 26th anniversary of Banned Books Week.
There are many books on the top 100 that I’ve read. And there are LOTS that I have not. Hell, my 7 year old has read a few on the list! How’s that for irony?
The most challenged book of 2006 actually sounds very interesting. And Tango Makes Three written by Justin Richardson and Peter Parnell. It has even won awards. More irony… How can something be so horrible to be banned and also win an award?
I have not read And Tango Makes Three but it is on my list purely for my own curiousity. However I checked my library and it’s not available. Maybe I’ll have better luck at the local book store. Anyhow, this is a children’s picture book written for ages preschool through grade three. It focuses on a male penguin couple who want to become fathers. The zookeepers give them an egg and they lovingly care for it and wait for it to hatch. The book has been challenged, obviously, and been labeled as “anti-family” and “promoting homosexuality”.
Another book that interests me is Mommy Laid An Egg. How cute is that title? Another children’s book but this time it’s about the birds and the bees. Apparently when the parents of the book start explaining sex incorrectly to the children, the kids start setting the record straight and through cartoon drawings show the parents the truth about sex. Ha! I have just requested it from the library!
There are plenty more on the list that interest me. Here are a few that I have read:
1. Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck
2. Bridge to Terabithia by Katherine Paterson
3. The Giver by Lois Lowry
4. A Wrinkle in Time by Madeleine L’Engle
5. The Handmaid’s Tale by Margaret Atwood (highly recommend!)
6. To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee
7. Beloved by Toni Morrison
8. The Outsiders by S.E. Hinton
9. The Pigman by Paul Zindel
10. Annie on my Mind by Nancy Garden
11. Cujo by Stephen King
12. Are You There, God? It’s Me, Margaret by Judy Blume (all-time favorite book from childhood)
13. Tiger Eyes by Judy Blume
14. Go Ask Alice by Anonymous
15. Flowers for Algernon by Daniel Keyes
So my quest is to read more banned books. One question though….. Who would have thought that Where’s Waldo? would make the top 100? Huh?
I hope people celebrate their freedom to read– not just for one week in September each year, but always. It’s one of our most precious freedoms.
How to Celebrate Banned Books Week 2007 at http://blogs.ala.org/oif.php?title=celebrate2007bbw&more=1&c=1&tb=1&pb=1 provides a few ways to celebrate your freedom.
By the way, Where’s Waldo? was challenged at the Public Libraries of Saginaw, Mich. (1989) because “on some of the pages there are dirty things.” It was removed from the Springs Public School library in East Hampton, NY (1993) because there is a tiny drawing of a woman lying on the beach wearing a bikini bottom but no top. Source: Newletter on Intellectual Freedom, May 1989, p. 78; July 1993, p. 100
Just out of curiosity, I checked the list… here’s what I have read:
I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings by Maya Angelou
The Chocolate War by Robert Cormier
The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain
Harry Potter (Series) by J.K. Rowling
Forever by Judy Blume
Bridge to Terabithia by Katherine Paterson
The Giver by Lois Lowry
Goosebumps (Series) by R.L. Stine
A Day No Pigs Would Die by Robert Newton Peck
A Wrinkle in Time by Madeleine L’Engle
To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee
Beloved by Toni Morrison
The Pigman by Paul Zindel
A Light in the Attic by Shel Silverstein
James and the Giant Peach by Roald Dahl
Are You There, God? It’s Me, Margaret by Judy Blume
Lord of the Flies by William Golding
Tiger Eyes by Judy Blume
Where’s Waldo? by Martin Hanford
Ironically, I’m actually going to teach Lord of the Flies this year. Good to know that what I’m required to teach is on a Banned Books List…