Books That Have Been Banned For The Most Ridiculous Reasons

Banned Book week is coming up on Sunday. It's a week for teachers, librarians, and readers to come together to celebrate the freedom to read. Now, I know that some of us are more conservative, and I admit that not every book should be read by small children.  But there's shielding your child from bad influences, and then there's overprotecting them and not letting them learn. But this is just my opinion, you may disagree, and that's fine.  Just don't yell at me in the comments, please.  Here are some books that were banned from schools for... well, odd reasons.

1.  Charlotte's Web by E.B. White. 

I know when I saw this, I was shocked.  Charlotte's Web was one of my favorite books as a young child.  It was fun, it taught me about friendships, about death, about life.  I couldn't imagine what was so bad that kids couldn't read this book.  But, back in 2006, in Kansas, parents did in fact get this book banned. Why?

According to the parent group at the heart of the issue, "Humans are the highest level of God’s creation and are the only creatures that can communicate vocally. Showing lower life forms with human abilities is sacrilegious and disrespectful to God.’"

Have you no idea what fiction is? What on earth are you thinking with this? What else do you want to keep away from your kid, Sesame Street?  I always thought there was a big problem with this type of thing.  If you want your child to follow your religion, then YOU should teach them that religion at home.  If they have questions about something, YOU should answer them.  If you know your faith, then you should be able to answer most anything a kid would ask about it.  If you're doing it right, your kid's faith won't be shattered by a fictional book about a talking pig.

2.  A Light In The Attic By Shel Silverstein. 

This, again, seems silly to me.  Shel Silverstein's books are enjoyed by readers of all ages, and they're very whimsical and beautiful.  So why was this one banned? Because of this poem:

HOW NOT TO HAVE TO DRY THE DISHES
by Shel Silverstein

If you have to dry the dishes
(Such an awful, boring chore)
If you have to dry the dishes
(‘Stead of going to the store)
If you have to dry the dishes
And you drop one on the floor —
Maybe they won’t let you
Dry the dishes anymore. 

Really.  You think your kids don't know what a joke is? If you really think your kid is going to break dishes instead of drying them, then why not tell them to... oh, I don't know, NOT do that?  You're the parent, their behavior comes from you. Kids need consequences for their actions, structure in their lives.  Again, if you're doing it right, your kid will know better and know this poem is joking.

3.  My Friend Flicka By Mary O'Hara. 

What could POSSIBLY be wrong with a story of a little boy bonding with a horse.  It's a horse.  They are friends.  What's wrong with that?  Well, apparently a female dog was referred to as a bitch in the story.  That's the correct term, though! I mean, I wouldn't want to be called that, but I'm a human, and last time I checked, I'm not a dog. And by the way, that word is acceptable on the radio and on TV a lot of the time. At least in this book, they'd learn the CORRECT way to use it instead of the gross way.

4.  The Lord Of The Rings by J.R.R. Tolkien.

Not only was this book banned by some states in the country, it was BURNED in some states.  Why? Because they think it's satanic.  Huh.  I didn't get that from the book or the movies at all, but hey, what do I know.  I mean, it's a book about some dudes who have a ring, so that might be pretty satanic.  Come on, now.

Anyway, what do you think about these banned books? What do you think about banned books week?  Let me know what you think (nicely, please)!

Banningly  yours,
Behka