My Statement about Banned Books
Many conversations around banned books focus on parents’ rights to choose what their child reads, while counter arguments say one parent shouldn’t dictate what every child in a school or a district reads or doesn’t read…
Other conversations discuss censorship versus freedom of speech, and argue that book bans keep children in ignorance…
Still more talk about parents wanting to avoid having difficult discussions about complicated issues with their children, while others counter that the real world is full of these difficult issues and argue that we adults have a responsibility to prepare children for this world…
Other conversations discuss censorship versus freedom of speech, and argue that book bans keep children in ignorance…
Still more talk about parents wanting to avoid having difficult discussions about complicated issues with their children, while others counter that the real world is full of these difficult issues and argue that we adults have a responsibility to prepare children for this world…
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But then I look at my little picture book,
Lola at the Library. It’s about a little girl, aged about 3, going to the library with her Mommy, choosing new books, singing along at rhyme time and reading her chosen book at bedtime. There are no issues (inappropriate or otherwise), no inappropriate language, the subject is not inappropriate for the age group (or for any age group – you could read it to a baby - in fact there’s a board book version for babies). Yet this little book is banned in a number of states. When I tell people this, they ask me why on earth… what could people possibly object to? |
Lola at the Library has nothing in common with other banned books except for the fact that Lola is an African American child. Could it simply be that?
There really is nothing else in common with other banned books except that.
And Lola is not alone in being a simple picture book with a completely unremarkable story
about a little African American child that is banned – there are lots.
So please, don’t be taken in by the complex discussions around high-profile ‘controversial’ books, or think that buying a controversial book from the Banned Books table is the only radical act you need to take…
Because while these discussions rage on, attracting and distracting our attention, lots of perfectly lovely, ordinary story books are being banned simply for featuring an African American child.
And that should tell you all you need to know about whether these challenges are a genuine movement to protect children from inappropriate material...
Librarians, educators, parents, editors and authors who have children’s best interests at heart have been fighting since the 70s* to include under-represented children in books – African American children, Asian children, children with disabilities, gay children, strong female characters and more… After almost 50 years of hard work, we were just beginning to get there.
So, for me it’s very simple: we have to ignore the distracting conversations and fight these bans so that all children can see themselves in books and all children can see the reality of the world we live in - in all its richness and diversity - reflected in their reading and educational materials.
Don’t be distracted.
Anna McQuinn
*See Reading into Racism – Bias in Children’s Literature and learning Materials
by Gillian Klein, Routledge & Kegan Paul 1985 – Chapter 2
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There really is nothing else in common with other banned books except that.
And Lola is not alone in being a simple picture book with a completely unremarkable story
about a little African American child that is banned – there are lots.
So please, don’t be taken in by the complex discussions around high-profile ‘controversial’ books, or think that buying a controversial book from the Banned Books table is the only radical act you need to take…
Because while these discussions rage on, attracting and distracting our attention, lots of perfectly lovely, ordinary story books are being banned simply for featuring an African American child.
And that should tell you all you need to know about whether these challenges are a genuine movement to protect children from inappropriate material...
Librarians, educators, parents, editors and authors who have children’s best interests at heart have been fighting since the 70s* to include under-represented children in books – African American children, Asian children, children with disabilities, gay children, strong female characters and more… After almost 50 years of hard work, we were just beginning to get there.
So, for me it’s very simple: we have to ignore the distracting conversations and fight these bans so that all children can see themselves in books and all children can see the reality of the world we live in - in all its richness and diversity - reflected in their reading and educational materials.
Don’t be distracted.
Anna McQuinn
*See Reading into Racism – Bias in Children’s Literature and learning Materials
by Gillian Klein, Routledge & Kegan Paul 1985 – Chapter 2
Back to Home Page