Children's Books discussion

This will be, in 2023, a place to discuss banned and significantly challenged books, in the designated topic threads.

Please do not create new topic threads without permission.

Please remember to be respectful of different concerns and divergent opinions.

Please remember that we have a separate folder for self-promotion and you are not to mention your book anywhere else.

The three clubs (Fiction, Picture Book, and Miscellaneous) will open threads for discussion of particular books in January 2023. Lots of titles of books that you may wish to read are in the "More Book Banning" topic thread.

Meanwhile there are existing threads to discuss the principles of book banning, censoring, vetting access, etc.

Heads up, in case it clarifies; the following introduction (or one much like it) will lead off each club discussion.

" In this club thread we will be respectfully discussing the merits & problems & best fit for grade level of books that have been banned and seriously challenged. We will not tolerate any disrespect towards group members, authors, books, librarians, or readers. We will not be discussing whether banning books is appropriate."

Books have been banned since the printing press was invented. There are lots of classics on the banned and challenged list.

The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn has been pereptually challenged since it was published and not because of the N-word. Vulgar language in the 19th-century includes the words scratched, and sweat.

The Adventures of Tom Sawyer was also considered vulgar.

The Catholic Church suppressed books that they felt went against their teachings.

Shakespeare was edited down for children in the 19th-century,
Grimms Fairy Tales, the Arabian Nights, Walt Whitman's The Leaves of Grass, Huckleberry Finn. Gulliver's Travels, Alice's Adventures in Wonderland / Through the Looking-Glass, etc.

There are numerous resources to locate lists of banned and challenged books. The ALA has several
Frequently challenged children's books
https://www.ala.org/advocacy/bbooks/f...

YA books
https://www.ala.org/advocacy/bbooks/f...

Top 10 of 2021
https://www.ala.org/advocacy/bbooks/f...

Google News and Microsoft News both have feeds to follow stories about literature/books but some of the links I had saved have gone away.

Thank you for the quick summary of the history of book banning. Would you like a thread dedicated to it, so you could say more?

Cheryl wrote: "Thank you for the quick summary of the history of book banning. Would you like a thread dedicated to it, so you could say more?"

I have a lot of information saved. Not all my links still work but I did save a lot of the statistics for a Banned Books Week event I host on another forum. A thread on the history of book banning would be great.

Again let me say that we will keep *all* conversations respectful.

Nobody will be allowed to use words like moron or idiot, or to throw out comparisons to genocidal regimes. Hostile posts will be deleted. Everyone, think or look back to see if you may have said something harmful to a dialogue, then please edit or delete your post(s).

Many people who challenge books do believe that they're doing a good thing, whether they're from the so-called 'right' or the 'left' perspective. Only by having open conversations can we get to know each other' perspectives and, hopefully, come to some sort of mutual understanding and, perhaps, lay a foundation for solutions.

I'm opening a new thread for books that are about banned books.

I am also considering one for people who have concerns about the suitability of different texts in reading lists or libraries. For example, someone might want to suggest that a certain book that troubled them when they were a teen should not be on a required reading list for middle school... and they might want to talk about it here.

Any thoughts?

Cheryl wrote: "Many people who challenge books do believe that they're doing a good thing, whether they're from the so-called 'right' or the 'left' perspective. Only by having open conversations can we get to know each other' perspectives and, hopefully, come to some sort of mutual understanding and, perhaps, lay a foundation for solutions."

So well said, Cheryl, and thank you for starting this folder!

QNPoohBear wrote: "I have a lot of information saved. Not all my links still work but I did save a lot of the statistics for a Banned Books Week event I host on another forum. A thread on the history of book banning would be great."

Thank you for continuing to share your knowledge on this important subject with us all!

AARP had good advice in their news-magazine for how to deal w/ disagreements. "[Use] your common sense. ... plus empathy .... [Q]uestions may be more effective than facts, figures, and arguments. Questioning others can lead them to question themselves over the long run."