Since it was founded in 1982, Banned Books Week has highlighted the value of free and open access to information by drawing attention to the attempts to remove books and other materials from libraries, schools, and bookstores. It spotlights current and historical attempts to censor books in libraries and schools. It brings together the entire book community — librarians, booksellers, publishers, journalists, teachers, and readers of all types — in shared support of the freedom to seek and to express ideas, even those some consider unorthodox or unpopular. The books featured during Banned Books Week have all been targeted for removal or restriction in libraries and schools. By focusing on efforts across the country to remove or restrict access to books, Banned Books Week draws national attention to the harms of censorship.
Banned book lists can be a great resource for parents looking for books that teach kids about the world and themselves. When your children read books that have been challenged or banned, you have a double opportunity as a parent; you can discuss the books themselves, and the information they provide, and you can also talk about why people might find them troubling. Here are a few books that are often challenged, yet present great opportunities for children to learn.
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A Wrinkle in Time by Madeleine L'Engle
Bridge to Terabithia by Katherine Paterson
James and the Giant Peach by Roald Dahl
The book as a whole can very dark and mysterious, James and the Giant Peach was banned because it had references to alcohol, drugs, violence, and suspicious behavior. In one case, it was banned from a town in Wisconsin as the spider licking its lips, was seen as being sexual.
Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone by J.K. Rowling
J.K. Rowling’s Harry Potter series has been translated into 68 different languages, distributed in over 200 different territories worldwide, and has sold over 450 million copies at last count. And the number of challenges and bans on this series, usually for depicting witchcraft and wizardry and promoting anti-family themes, is also impressive. By 2000, it had been challenged about 650 different times. 
Alice Adventures in Wonderland by Lewis Carroll
This book tells the story of a girl named Alice who falls down a rabbit-hole into a fantasy realm populated by grotesque figures like talking playing cards and anthropomorphic creatures. The Wonderland described in the tale plays with logic in ways that have made the story of lasting popularity with adults as well as children. Alice's Adventures in Wonderland was originally banned in China and other parts of the world because some people objected to the animal characters being able to use human language. They felt this put animals on the same level as humans.*To learn more about how censorship is a dead end, visit these websites:
Happy Friday, and happy reading!
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