AOL's Book Maven

It's Banned  Books Week, and lest you think this annual observance is a dusty, musty Remembrance of McCarthyism past, let me tell you that we've got plenty of censorship problems to worry about still. See this sweet, harmless-looking book? It's got vegetables playing jump rope! It's got bright colors, kicky letters, a title as wholesome as organic apple juice.

Well, folks, don't let this wolf in lamb's clothing fool you. 'Schoolyard Rhymes' is dangerous stuff, not fit for kiddies and definitely not school library material.

Why? Ask the good parents of Bangor, Maine. The book, distributed to about 18,000 students across the state through Governor John Baldacci and his wife Karen's Read With ME literacy program, contains (among other poems distasteful to about a dozen parents) the inflammatory verse: "Ladies and gentleman/Take my advice/Pull down your pants/And slide on the ice."

O tempora! O mores!

It might seem silly to pay attention to the complaints of a mere dozen families, but think about the slippery slope we'd all be sliding down (keep your pants on!) if every children's book with rude, silly, immature content were banned. Good-bye, Pippi Longstocking, with all of your rule-swerving, adult-averse habits! (She'd be out on the ice for sure.)  So long, Junie B. Jones; your cracks about your classmates, using words like "stupid," are just too politically incorrect. Farewell, Captain Underpants -- we know you got tons of kids reading, but really -- to quote a Bangor mom -- "It's rude. There are words in there that I don't allow in my house."

Ladies (and gentleman) of Maine, we adore thee, but please try to remember what Sarah Cecil, coordinator of the Portland-based Maine Reads program said about the controversy: "...we can respect each parent's or educator's decision about whether to read the book or not."

Wait, wait, don't tell me -- you're afraid that your child might PICK THIS BOOK UP HERSELF and read it without adult supervision. I'm sorry to spread my sarcasm so thickly today, but in a society rife with literacy problems among children and adults alike, if a book is so appealing to a five-member committee of profressionals, to a governor and his wife that they decide to give it away free to children and those kids love it, I think it's time to accept that book.

Now, I wouldn't want to oppress the censors. They are as entitled to their opinions as I am to mine. I simply wish they would take their energy and spend it on volunteering for the school book fair.

Oh, and if you still find that benign free book a threat to your family's equilibrium? Give it away. There are many children and families out there who long for a library of their own. Just ask First Book.

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• #41 Comment from azkentuckywoman
  10/5/06 12:19 AM | Permalink

  Hmmm the old argument about "which book contains the most violence, greed, sex, rape, incest, etc. is the Bible" could suffice here - however we are speaking of children reading fun books. I started reading at a very early age. What books started that love of reading? DR. SUESS!!! A whole slew of those words aren't even words! I love language and have also done crosswords and played scrabble since a very young age, which once again was seeded by "Green Eggs and Ham".This led to The Bobbsey Twins, Nancey Drew and so many other wonderful books. "To Kill a Mockingbird" showed me that just being from the south did not make you a bigot.  Considering the words kids hear on television and in every day life, stupider is so benign. Have you ever watched the stress an the face of an adult who reads on a second grade trying to fill out a  job application? It is frustrating for that adult and too bad for a possible employer who may be missing out on a fantastic employee. Literacy is the basic root of almost all future knowledge. Without the ability to read life is extremely limited. Relax and let kids be kids - it absolutely will NOT hurt them. I grew up in a very small Kentucky town where saying words such as liar and pregnant were "dirty words" and racial slurs were uttered by the same people who were afraid if they said pregnant they would have to explain sex to their children and their ignorance would surface. So please be happy that someone has taken the initiative to teach children to read - for that matter - to teach ANYONE to read. Books open worlds of imagination and you may be surprised when your child questions the same topics, opinions, and ideas you do. Don't limit their capabilities!!!
  
  
  azkentuckywoman
• #40 Comment from billbooky
  9/28/06 12:43 PM | Permalink

  I wish they'd ban some of my client's books!  They could use the attention, and it would be sort of ironic to ban a book titled "Deliver Us From Normal."  It has lot's of stuff in it to upset parents in Maine and even a few other states...
  WLC, Specialty Book Marketing.
• #39 Comment from ladytink534
  9/28/06 3:15 AM | Permalink

  I applaud you. I really hate it when someone decides to think for everyone by banning wonderful books. I know when I was younger I loved the stories from Wayside School and several people tried to ban these from our library. The few kids  that did read for pleasure (myself included) begged our libraian and principal not to get rid of the books and it worked.
• #38 Comment from harrysstyle
  9/27/06 5:57 AM | Permalink

  STOP! STOP! STOP! STOP THE STUPIDITY. PARENTS TODAY, FIRST OF ALL DO NOT HAVE A CLUE ABOUT BEING PARENTS. THEIR CHILDREN GROW UP AFRAID TO MAKE A SINGLE CHOICE ON THEIR OWN. PARENTS TODAY TEACH THEIR CHILDREN TO NEVER ACCEPT ACCOUNTABILITY OR RESPONSIBILITY. ALWAYS BLAME SOMEONE OR SOMETHING FOR YOUR OWN MIS-GIVINGS. LET THE KIDS HAVE FUN. SO WHAT IF THE WORDS MAKE FUN OF SOMEONE OR SOMETHING. IT MAKES THE KID KAUGH AND ENJOY THEMSELVES. THEY HAVE PLENTY OF TIME LATER ON IN SCHOOL TO KNOW RIGHT FROM WRONG, THAT IS IF THE PARENTS STOP SCREWING UP THE MINDS OF TODAYS KIDS AND STOP THEM FROM TAKING STEPS LATER ON IN LIFE TO BE A COWARD OR SCARED TO GIVE THEIR OWN OPINION ON SUBJECTS BROUGHT TO THEIR ATTENTION. FOR THE LAST TWO DECADES PARENTS HAVE DONE A TERRIBLE JOB IN RAISING THEIR CHILDREN. THEY CANNOT THINK FOR THEMSELVES AND IT ALL STARTS WITH PARENTS DECIDING THAT A LITTLE BOOK OF RHYMES IS TOO HARSH FOR THEM TO COMPREHEND.
  GIVE ME A FRIGGIN BREAK.
• #37 Comment from jdmk405
  9/27/06 5:09 AM | Permalink

  Oh, come on.  These few parents in Maine aren't even worth mentioning.
  Besides, I am more concerned about their parenting skills if they are so easily offended by these little trifles.  I'm sure the rhymes will not traumatize the kids nearly as much as their controlling parents.  I see shrinks in the poor kids futures.