nPostednon September 25, 2013
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nThenlast week of September is always Banned Books Week, which celebratesnthe freedom to read.
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nWeird,nhuh? Everyone is always trying to get us to read, read more, readnmore books. Don’t we already have the freedom to read?
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nWell,nthere have been times and places when people were so upset at anparticular book that, not only did they not want to read it, theyndidn’t want their kids to read it. And (I hate to say) they don’tneven want other people, and other people’s kids, to read it!
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nAndnso they try to get the book banned from a library, school library, ornschoolroom.
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Whatnsort of books have been banned?
Whatnsort of books have been banned?n
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nAccordingnto the American Library Association, the Harry Potter books are thenmost-banned books in America. Apparently some people think that thenmagic spells in them are read. (Trust me, they’re not.)
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nOthernpopular books such as The Hunger Games and the CaptainnUnderpants series have been banned.
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nClassicsnsuch as The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, by Mark Twain,nhave been banned.
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Anpopular children’s author once told all of us at a writing workshop that one ofnhis books was banned from a public library because it included thencolor green in several descriptions.
Anpopular children’s author once told all of us at a writing workshop that one ofnhis books was banned from a public library because it included thencolor green in several descriptions. n
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nThe color green!
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nAccording tona newspaper article about the banning, someone thought that thencolor green was code for Paganism. Not that there is anything wrongnwith Paganism…but I can’t even get around to saying that, because Inam so busy saying:
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n“REALLY? The color green? What book DOESN’Tninclude the color green???”
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Itnused to be that communities sometimes gathered together books thatnthey didn’t want people to read, and they burned them! A greatnphilosopher and author named Ralph Waldo Emerson said, “Everynburned book enlightens the world.” What do you suppose he meant?
Itnused to be that communities sometimes gathered together books thatnthey didn’t want people to read, and they burned them! A greatnphilosopher and author named Ralph Waldo Emerson said, “Everynburned book enlightens the world.” What do you suppose he meant?n
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nFornmore on Banned Books Week, check out thenofficial website.
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nAlsonon this date:
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nAnniversarynof the passage of an amendment that took 74,003 days to be adopted!!!
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nAnniversarynof an early warning that smoking is harmful (1878!)
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nPlannAhead!
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nChecknout my Pinterest pages on Septembernholidays, Septembernbirthdays,nand historicalnanniversaries in September.
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nAndnhere are my Pinterest pages on Octobernholidays, Octobernbirthdays,nand historicalnanniversaries in October.
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