I first had the pleasure of interviewing Sarah Brannen when her children’s book Uncle Bobby’s Wedding launched early last year. I wrote about the right wing’s first attack on the book, which involved shameless plagiarism of my earlier piece by ultra-conservative writer Brent Bozell III at Town Hall. I then followed the story as the […]
Continuing my posts in honor of Banned Books Week. This is a slightly updated version of a piece I wrote for Bay Windows during last year’s Banned Books Week. If you haven’t yet read it, try to guess which children’s book featuring rabbits was challenged in 1959 for promoting (gasp!) interracial marriage. And come back
It’s the start of Banned Books Week here in the U.S., “an annual event celebrating the freedom to read and the importance of the First Amendment. . . . Banned Books Week highlights the benefits of free and open access to information while drawing attention to the harms of censorship by spotlighting actual or attempted
The guinea pigs have had the spotlight this year, as picture book Uncle Bobby’s Wedding has faced several attempted challenges from library patrons who wanted to remove or reshelve it. The penguins of And Tango Makes Three are not out of danger yet, however, as a school board meeting in Ankeny, Iowa made clear. Cindy
Sometimes the headlines write themselves. Conservative writer and DC resident Margaret Hemenway is appalled that her child’s female first-grade teacher read Uncle Bobby’s Wedding to the class as a way to help the class understand that she (the teacher) was marrying another woman. Not only that, but Hemenway then goes on to tie 60’s radical
(Here’s a longer piece on Banned Books Week I wrote for Bay Windows, October 1, 2008. Seemed a good way to end the week.) This week marks the 27th annual Banned Books Week, the American Library Association’s celebration of the freedom to read. LGBT-inclusive children’s books have long been on the ALA’s list of works
Helen and I celebrate a Banned Books Week full of fur and feathers. We discuss several LGBT-inclusive children’s books as well as an earlier work that was banned for supposedly promoting interracial marriage. We also point out the opportunity parents are missing by avoiding difficult topics with their children, and explain how we are helping
The Carnegie Corporation of New York and the New York Times are seeking nominations for the 2008 I Love My Librarian Award. Up to ten librarians will be honored. Each will receive $5,000 and be recognized at an awards ceremony hosted by The New York Times at TheTimesCenter in December 2008. I can think of
A few weeks ago I reported on the first challenge to Uncle Bobby’s Wedding, a children’s book featuring two gay guinea pigs who marry. Today, library director James LaRue, who wrote a sensitive, balanced response to the initial challenge, reports that a second patron has challenged the book and asked for its removal from the
A modernized version of Cinderella by the Russian-based Imperial Ice Stars caused controversy in Australia Tuesday when “two male characters share a romantic scene together on the ice.” And no, one of them isn’t the fairy godmother. They’re just a couple of guys at the ball. Artistic director Tony Mercer said, “I don’t think there
