Banned Books Week is coming up at the end of the month, so we thought it would be cool to talk about banned books for September #InkRipples. The American Library Association put together a video about the ten most challenged books in 2015 (their Banned & Challenged Books website has a ton of resources for parents, teachers, librarians, and book lovers).
It’s kind of strange that we have a week to recognize these books, that we need a week to do that. Let people read what they to read. Read things out of your comfort zone and learn something new or take in a new perspective. Monitor what your kids read and be ready to talk about the issues that might come up as a result. But don’t ban books or protest them. Just because something might make you uncomfortable, doesn’t mean there is something wrong with it. Check yourself, maybe it’s you that needs to be rethought.
Early on in my blogging days, I scoured my house to find all the banned and challenged books I owned. Then I draped myself in them and took a picture (you can see the original post here). I also talked about one of my favorite banned books THE GIVER by Lois Lowry. It’s been quite some time since I’ve read that one; I might have to pick it up this fall. What are some of your favorite banned/challenged books?
#InkRipples is a monthly meme created by Katie L. Carroll, Mary Waibel, and Kai Strand. We pick a topic (September is all about banned books), drop a ripple in the inkwell (i.e. write about it on our blogs), and see where the conversation goes. Be sure to check out Kai’s and Mary’s posts this month. We’d love to have you join in the conversation on your own blogs or on your social media page. Full details and each month’s topic can be found on my #InkRipples page.
Great topic this month. I went to the ALA site and they have a lot of information there worth reading.
I just finished reading The Giver, again, a few weeks ago. It is one of my favorite books. I don’t understand why some people think certain books should be banned. We learn from reading all sorts of stories. What’s wrong with that?
Off to check and see what other books I have that are on the banned list.
Have a wonderful week.
The ALA site is great. Happy reading and have a great week!
What a great picture! I don’t reread books often, because there are too many new books to get through, but I’ve been getting the itch to reread The Giver. This post might have pushed me to it.
Thanks, Kai! That was a fun pic to take. You should totally reread The Giver…it’s short and well worth it.
You look great covered in banned books! That picture served to make the idiocy of book banning more vivid!
LOL! Thanks, C. Lee!
With the jungle that is the Internet (referring to expression of ideas) the notion of banning books seems ever more arcane.
A BRIDGE to TERABITHIA was banned by some schools because it had, oh, no, a MC –a child– dying. At the same schools H. C. Andersen’s THE LITTLE MATCH GIRL was taught in anthologies included in the curriculum. Go figure.
There is often an arbitrary nature to book banning.
Another thing that drives me nuts is when books are banned when those who are doing it haven’t even read the book.
I love banned books. I swear banning a book just makes me want to read it more. Maybe it’s because they ban so many good books!
A book will often come to my attention because it was banned!