Celebrate the power of literature and read a banned book!
Banned Books Week is Sept. 30 – Oct. 6
What would you do if you went to the library to check out a book, only to find
it wasn’t there? Not because it was already checked out, but because someone
else didn’t agree with its content and had it removed?
View the bottom two videos and in the comments section directly below, post your favorite banned book.
View the bottom two videos and in the comments section directly below, post your favorite banned book.
As I watched the first video and saw the covers of all those books I know many of them, but two stood out to me in particular. The Absolutely True Diary of a Part Time Indian and A Light in the Attic. I had reservations about reading The Absolutely True Diary... for READ 722 but found myself enjoying it immensely. The story had so many real life themes that I could connect to but as a teacher, I know so many adolescent readers would be able to connect to Junior as well. Allowing readers to feel connection to text is a number wish. Why would you want to young or old?
ReplyDeleteThe second book was A Light in the Attic. How can anything Shel Silverstein be banned? His reading is so whimsical and a fun escape for readers of all ages.
The second video interviewed a man who made a statement regarding banning books. He said something to the effect of...those who argue for the banning of a book because of the issues written in it (ie racism etc)are really neglecting the true reason for why that book was written, usually those banned books have a true message or theme that want to address.
Kim T
Kim, I agree with you. The reason that we often connect with these books is somewhere within these stories we can see ourselves.
DeleteMy favorite banned book would have to be Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck. This book is probably the first book I ever actually read that was required reading while in high school. I loved how George took care of Lennie through the whole book.
ReplyDeleteI do not think books should be banned however, I have a problem with school requiring children to read books that have questionable material in them. I think adult should have the freedom to choose the books that they want to read however, teachers should not have the right to expose my children to books I deem unacceptable for them at their given age and maturity level. Often times I feel teachers forget that sometime the value of what they are teaching is overshadowed by the negative effect of the exposure to "inappropriate" material. Other resource can teach the same themes with less of an ill effect.
Theresa, You've brought up some good points, but who do you think should determine what books should be banned? Should this be left up to parents, teachers, administrators?
DeleteI can't believe some of the books that have been banned or currently are. It is pretty interesting to me that it is even possible to ban a book when we as Americans hold our rights to freedom of speech so dearly. It was kind of funny looking over this list because a handful of the banned book titles I read in my 8th grade English class, which my father taught! I'm looking forward to chatting with him about that! Two of my favorite banned book are The Jungle and Animal Farm (which I first read in my dad's class as well). One of the people in the video above pointed out that many of the banned books are there because of social or political movements that the books relates to, which is true in the case of Animal Farm and The Jungle.
ReplyDeletehttp://www.ala.org/advocacy/banned/frequentlychallenged/challengedclassics/reasonsbanned
Julie you bring up a good point. We often are quick to dismiss the political movement that pushes and pulls on everything we do in education.
DeleteI would have to agree with Julie on this one about freedom of speech. I don't consider myself a political person but many of the books that continue to be on the banned books list are the stories/memoirs of someone's life. Some of these people are telling their stories to the world in hopes of protecting others from having to go through what they have gone through in their lives. Okay...deep breath :) On the flip side, I have to say, in my "middle school" mind a banned books list, makes me want to read them all the more! Believe me when I say that I was a rule- follower (goodie two-shoes) growing up BUT the idea of reading something "naughty"...scandalious! ;)
ReplyDeleteI have to admit that I enjoy the books To Kill A Mockingbird, Catcher in the Rye, and Push. All of these books are quite bizarre and disturbing yet expose us to life challenges that some people are faced with as part of their life story! I also have to admit that I found a few on the list that I am interested in reading due to the nature of their content. I would like to read The Notebook Girls..., Speak, and the Summer of the Sisterhood (the fourth book in the Traveling Pants series). i will let you know if I get to those novels anytime soon!
Kim brought up a good point from the video about the reason books are banned in the first place is because of their message, etc. It made me think about The Diary of Anne Frank which is one of the most popular banned books. Can you imagine if people didn't read, discuss, and teach that book to our youth? Anne Frank was a child when she was faced with one of the most horrific events in history. Can you imagine if teachers and parents were too afraid to discuss her story, her bravery, her courage, her life? I don't know...just that was enough to make me think about the appropriate ways we can all support the teaching of banned books or any books with "heavy" content.
I couldn't believe the books that were shown in the first video... have they all been banned seriously? I could not believe seeing "Harry Potter" in the video. Quite a few of the books shown were books that I also read in high school. "Of Mice and Men" was one of my favorite books. It was a story about the bond between unlikely friends. I also noticed that "Diary of Anne Frank" was on the list; another of my favorites.
ReplyDeleteI do not agree with banning books. Some of the books that have been placed on the banned book list are great "teachable" books. They make a difficult situation understandable to people of all ages because of the story line. I can see how maybe for a middle school or high school teacher it might be nice to be advised of books that might have content that might not be appropriate for the classroom. But, if you are using that book from a teaching perspective I am sure you would take the time to talk about the books to ensure that students are really understanding the meaning behind what they are reading.
As I watched this video I had a flashback to high school English class watching Fahrenheit 911 and having a class discussion about banned books. Just as I did then, I find myself torn. I believe in the freedom of choice and am often shocked by the books I see on the list. As many of our classmates have already stated, these are books I grew up reading. To this day my favorite banned book is The Giver; a book that I read not just once in fourth grade, but again in college. With this said, I also understand the the point Theresa made about parents having the choice in what their child is exposed to.
ReplyDeleteAs I watched the first video, I recognized a lot of titles and more than likely enjoyed most of them! I have to agree with Kim about A Light in the Attic. Shel Silverstein should never be banned! I really think people look too much into things sometimes. As one of the men talked in the second video he discussed how what people often get upset about is precisely what the book is arguing against. For curiosity sake, I googled top children's books that are banned. One of the first ones I came across was Bridge to Terabithia. I was shocked! This was one of the first books I actually cried while I read! The reasonings were profanity, encouraged disrespect of adults, death being central to the plot, encouraged secular humanism and/or satanism and blending of fantasy and reality. Really? Come on people! On the other end of the spectrum, I do agree with Theresa that the parents should approve of what is deemed appropriate for books read in schools that may be considered risky.
ReplyDeleteI was shocked to see all the wonderful books that made that list. It seems like people sometimes just want to make a stand and get on their soapbox. I am surprised when I see the reasons books are banned. Instead of discussing the topics these great literature works bring to light, we want to cover them up and hide them away. It doesn't make problems in our world go away, it only perpetuates them. Turn on the television or the radio, not much seems to be censored there. I too am looking forward to discussing the classics with my girls. Some of my favorites that made the list include: Green Eggs and Ham, The Da Vinci Code, To Kill a Mockingbird, The Great Gatsby.
ReplyDeleteI love The Great Gatsby.
ReplyDeleteI also thought The Absolutely True Diary of a Part time Indian was fantastic.
It really is interesting that any book requiring you to feel anything or think about anything has been banned at one point or another....
To be honest, I didn't realize how many books were banned. I just did a quick web search for a banned books list and I couldn't believe how many there were! Here are just a few of my favorites that I found on that list: The Da Vinci Code, The Diary of Anne Frank, Green Eggs and Ham (REALLY?), Black Beauty, James and the Giant Peach, Little Women, Harry Potter, and the list goes on and on! What I found so disturbing about all of this is that all of these books have so much to learn from them! I was very depressed learning that so many people have so much to criticize from any of these books!
ReplyDeleteI agree with everyone posting about the book bans putting up road blocks in our learning and sharing events and ideas with each other! I would like to touch a tad bit on what Theresa was saying in regards to teachers thinking first about the age and maturity of their students before reading one of these banned books in class. Maybe, it is more of a thought about being more informed of the books audience rather than completely banning a book. I know this too would be blown to pieces, because everyone out there banning books would then try to limit the students exposure to the book in another way. I think it is a slippery slop, but some of these books are classics and are wonderful stories, so maybe the reasoning for banning should be more detailed and less subjective.
ReplyDeleteI love The Wrinkle in Time and so does my son. I can't even imagine what could possible be wrong with the content of this book. I really don't think the banning of books will ever go away though, because there will always be someone out there trying to prove a point or overprotect or ignore events in history or something else I haven't noted.