Posted
on September 25, 2013
The
last week of September is always Banned Books Week, which celebrates
the freedom to read.
Weird,
huh? Everyone is always trying to get us to read, read more, read
more books. Don't we already have the freedom to read?
Well,
there have been times and places when people were so upset at a
particular book that, not only did they not want to read it, they
didn't want their kids to read it. And (I hate to say) they don't
even want other people, and other people's kids, to read it!
And
so they try to get the book banned from a library, school library, or
schoolroom.
What
sort of books have been banned?
According
to the American Library Association, the Harry Potter books are the
most-banned books in America. Apparently some people think that the
magic spells in them are read. (Trust me, they're not.)
Other
popular books such as The Hunger Games and the Captain
Underpants series have been banned.
Classics
such as The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, by Mark Twain,
have been banned.
A
popular children's author once told all of us at a writing workshop that one of
his books was banned from a public library because it included the
color green in several descriptions.
The color green!
According to
a newspaper article about the banning, someone thought that the
color green was code for Paganism. Not that there is anything wrong
with Paganism...but I can't even get around to saying that, because I
am so busy saying:
“REALLY? The color green? What book DOESN'T
include the color green???”
It
used to be that communities sometimes gathered together books that
they didn't want people to read, and they burned them! A great
philosopher and author named Ralph Waldo Emerson said, “Every
burned book enlightens the world.” What do you suppose he meant?
For
more on Banned Books Week, check out the
official website.
Also
on this date:
Check
out my Pinterest pages on September
holidays, September
birthdays,
and historical
anniversaries in September.
And
here are my Pinterest pages on October
holidays, October
birthdays,
and historical
anniversaries in October.
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