Not all penguins can dance like Mumble
Son: Dad, how do a daddy penguin and a mommy penguin have a baby penguin?
Dad: Er, son, penguins are birds so they ask the “bees”. The birds and the bees are always together so, um, they can exchange... info. Yep, they consult with the flowers and the trees too—oh, and the moon up above and a thing called lurve.
Son: What if there are two daddy penguins?
I’ll answer that, um, son. That’s the time some craaazee parents gasp, “Holee crapolee! Indecent!” *fist in air* “CHAAAALLENGE IT!”
According to AP, the award-winning And Tango Makes Three, a children’s book inspired by the true story of two male penguins raising a baby penguin, topped the American Library Association’s Ten Most Frequently Challenged Books of 2006. (ALA’s definition of challenge is a “formal, written complaint filed with a library or school requesting that materials be removed because of content or appropriateness.”) It’s interesting that ALA has also named it as one of the year’s best children’s books.
Overall, the number of “challenged” books in 2006 jumped to 546, more than 30 percent higher than the previous year’s total, 405, although still low compared to the mid-1990s, when challenges topped 750.
I immediately thought of Susan Patron’s The Higher Power of Lucky, winner of this year’s Newbery Medal (most prestigious award in children’s literature) that made all that brouhaha this February because of the word “scrotum”. AP contacted the
Sheesh. Anyhoodles, here are the “10 Most Challenged Books of 2006” with their reasons for being challenged:
- And Tango Makes Three by Justin Richardson and Peter Parnell (for homosexuality, anti-family, and unsuited to age group)
- Gossip Girls series by Cecily Von Ziegesar (for homosexuality, sexual content, drugs, unsuited to age group, and offensive language)
- Alice series by Phyllis Reynolds Naylor (for sexual content and offensive language)
- The Earth, My Butt, and Other Big Round Things by Carolyn Mackler (for sexual content, anti-family, offensive language, and unsuited to age group)
- The Bluest Eye by Toni Morrison (for sexual content, offensive language, and unsuited to age group)
- Scary Stories series by Alvin Schwartz (for occult/Satanism, unsuited to age group, violence, and insensitivity)
- Athletic Shorts by Chris Crutcher (for homosexuality and offensive language)
- The Perks of Being a Wallflower by Stephen Chbosky (for homosexuality, sexually explicit, offensive language, and unsuited to age group)
- Beloved by Toni Morrison (for offensive language, sexual content, and unsuited to age group)
- The Chocolate War by Robert Cormier (for sexual content, offensive language, and violence)
Related:
Labels: bibliophile’s affair, i heart ya
I suddenly have the urge to go out and read all of the books on that list.
8/28/2007 09:36:00 PM
Very proud to say I've read 3 of those books - and one of them, "The Earth, My Butt, And Other Big Round Things", has been on my "top twenty books" list for the last few years (i.e. since I discovered it). I can see how they would offend people but seriously!
Methinks some people need to realise that if teenagers need to know that these things are OKAY, and by challenging them.. well they're sending the message that being different is wrong.
And seriously, offensive language?!! Who defines offensive language? The minute you start defining words as 'offensive' things get rather sticky, like your mention of 'scrotum' and 'balls' Harlot
Bah. I hate the idea of challenging books because you personally don't agree. Doesn't mean others should be able to read them
8/28/2007 11:32:00 PM
and by 'should' in that final sentence, I meant "SHOULDN'T"
Sorry!
8/29/2007 01:55:00 AM
this reminds me of a bumper sticker:
books don't kill people, people do.
it also makes me chuckle because my dad doesn't cuss, won't even use the word 'butt'
(he used to grumble about all the words in the dictionary and that's all you can say??)
so anyway, once when he walked in on mom and i when i was telling her why some guy was a butthead and she agreed and yelled he IS a butthead (she also used to whisper shit alot and yell dammit exactly like her mother when she almost killed us on the freeway -mom- grandma was an excellent driver)and we chanted butthead butthead butthead and then caught his scowl
then laughed insanely because we were so very busted and batted our eyelashes at him. i swear that always worked. teehee
8/29/2007 02:47:00 AM
For every 10 people that love you there are at least 10-20 that HATE you :(
8/29/2007 03:39:00 AM
anti-family?!?! That fucking pissed me off. I want to know what the fuck they think a family is then. Two men and a child doesn't make a family? So it HAS to be a man and woman and child to make a family? Mmmm I see.
So single mothers and their children are not families. And what about a single person that is alone, isn't she/he a one person family, what about orphaned siblings?
I'm sure a wifebeater and a drunk woman with a child are a family. Yep that makes tons of sense to me.
There is nothing that infuriates me more than close minded fucks!!!!!!!!!
8/29/2007 06:38:00 AM
It saddens me that our society has come to a point where children's books are about homosexuality rather than loosing teeth and furry little monsters.
I agree with Trollop. While I personally believe that homosexuality is a good thing...right or wrong, who are we to judge, and they are still a family! As long as the kids are reading, mission accomplished.
8/29/2007 07:20:00 AM
Yep. Totally agree with everything Trollop said. I hate it when she's right you know. :@
8/29/2007 10:28:00 AM
Say, I want to borrow And Tango Makes Three at the library, I wouldn't be able to because some parent thinks homosexuality promotes anti-family theme?
I never understand why people think they can ban books in the pretense of protecting everyone's children when in truth it's them who have a problem. If you want to raise your children as close-minded as you are, fine with me but don't take away the books from me and don't make my choice for me. You have no right to do that.
8/29/2007 12:08:00 PM
I've read 2 of those books and I can't believe they are being challenged, and for homosexuality? WTF?
8/29/2007 03:33:00 PM
Way to teach our kids to not be tolerant, understanding good people. Everyone is different and to teach your kids different is bad, well, thanks people for raising a baby Hitler with his blond hair blue eyes, great race bullshit.
People like this also blame their bullshit on the Bible, (Adam and Even not Adam and Steve) but I believe, at least in all the Bibles I ever read, the main point was to be loving, forgiving, and honest... The way of Christ, hence being a good CHRISTian.
In my speech class, we got paired up with one other and had to pick a hot spot topic and debate it. I got stuck with a fucking soft spoken soccer mom, and since I LOVE to argue, I mean debate, with people, I was disappointed thinking she wouldn't be much of a challenge and she would be nice about everything so I didn't even bother to prepare any note cards or do research, I was going to wing it.
Our topic was gay marriage. This lady, being con on the topic got to go first and my jaw dropped, as we both stood at the front of the class, as she spewed out this bullshit about the Bible and disease and being gay promotes poly-gammy (LOL, yes she said ploy-gammy, not polygamy!) Long story short, I proceeded to lash into her big, bigot ass and by time I was done she was crying in front of the entire class. Then the class got to ask us questions so we had to defend our positions even more, and because I was so passionate about the topic and I was riled up, the whole class was up in arms, damn near riot mentality, and they just bombarded her even worse. LOL, good times. That sounds mean but it made me happy to make that venomous bitch cry. To think she is spreading that hate to her kids!
Ignorant, narrow minded people make me ill. I should go buy a copy of all of these for each of my nieces and nephews (15 kids in all) just to piss people off! Now I hope I run into a fucker spewing his/her bullshit today cause now I'm all worked up and wanting to verbally kick someone's ass in.
GWB
9/01/2007 02:47:00 PM
GWB, leave it to you to make a point across. ;) Narrow-minded people make me ill as well.
9/01/2007 07:49:00 PM
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