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Summer Reading Recommendations - Children's Books, Some Controversial

Hey Arianna here! Today I bring you some of the more weirdly banned books in the United States. I’ll mostly focus on what I believe are staples of children’s books. These are books I myself have read multiple times growing up and thought was just something all kids read. Apparently various schools across the U.S. have banned these books at some point. Enjoy this list and the summer! Who knows - maybe one of your favorite childhood books has been banned as well somewhere.

• James and the Giant Peach by Roald Dahl: Dahl’s childhood classic is frequently banned for a few reasons – likely it’s due to the book’s mentions of drug use, use of the word “ass” and, when a character, The Spider, licks her lips, it could be interpreted as sexual.
• Charlotte’s Web by E. B. White: Everyone knows Charlotte’s Web, or rather everyone should know about the friendship between Wilbur, a pig, and Charlotte, a spider.  In 2006, a Kansas group decided Charlotte’s Web was a blasphemous book because the animals spoke. According to world.edu, the group claimed that “humans are the highest level of God’s creation and are the only animals that can communicate vocally. Showing lower lifeforms with human abilities is sacrilegious and disrespectful to God.” There are other reasons too, but this is the most common one I found.
• The Harry Potter Series by J. K. Rowling: You may not have read Harry Potter, but I’m sure at some point you’ve seen at least some part of one of the seven movies based off this book. The Harry Potter Series has been banned many times. The American Library Association even went on to write “Harry Potter and the 20 Years of Controversy,” an article that details why. It boils down to religion and accusations that Harry Potter features witchcraft, sorcery and a glorification of magic and the occult.
• A Light in the Attic by Shel Silvertstein: I loved, loved this book as a kid and pretty much still do as an adult. Silverstein’s rhymes were a nice break from the drudgery of a bad day and put a smile on my face. Finding out this book was banned at some point was surprising. According to CBSNews’ Banned Book Week Highlights, A Light in the Attic was banned for reasons such as “encouraging disobedience, glorifying Satan, suicide and cannibalism.”
• Where’s Waldo? by Martin Hanford: Yes, Waldo has been banned before! Finding the red and white striped individual in an overly crowded drawing while he chameleons himself is just a surprising ban. Even more surprising are the reasons for the ban - according to world.edu, Where’s Waldo? contains “inappropriate and seditious hidden images.” This included a topless sunbather and a gay couple.

In September, libraries everywhere will be celebrating “BANNED BOOKS WEEK,” which takes place this year on the 27th through October 3. If you would like to learn more about banned books, the American Library Association (ALA) has a compiled list of frequently challenged books. You can see the list here: http://www.ala.org/advocacy/bbooks/frequentlychallengedbooks

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Works Cited

“A Light in the Attic - Banned Books Week - Pictures - CBS News.” CBSNews, www.cbsnews.com/pictures/banned-books-week/6.

Baldassarro, Wolf. “Banned Books Awareness: Charlotte’s Web by E.B. White.” World Leading Higher Education Information and Services, 3 Apr. 2011, world.edu/banned-books-awareness-charlottes-web-eb-white.

Baldassarro, Wolf. “Banned Books Awareness: James and the Giant Peach.” World Leading Higher Education Information and Services, 22 May 2011, world.edu/banned-books-awareness-james-giant-peach.

Baldassarro, Wolf. “Banned Books Awareness: Where’s Waldo?” World Leading Higher Education Information and Services, 12 June 2011, world.edu/banned-books-awareness-wheres-waldo.

Peters, Patricia. “Harry Potter and 20 Years of Controversy.” Intellectual Freedom Blog, 13 Aug. 2017, www.oif.ala.org/oif/?p=10636.