Santa Clause, Harry Potter, Easter Bunny

[queenbee]

If you tell your kid's that Harry Potter movies and book's are wrong because it is magic, then how can you encourage Santa Clause, Mary Poppins, Peter Pan, Easter bunny, Frosty the Snowman, Rudolph.

Talk about straddling the fence....

[taylor]

Now here is a topic I can sink my teeth into! Censorship of literature!! Gasp!

When a parent teaches their children values, whether it be religious values or simple human compassion, then adds a bit of common sense, there should be no problem with a child differentiating between the fact and the fiction. To hamper a child's curiosity, vocabulary growth and imagination by restricting literature is ridiculous. I am not saying that a 9 year old would be ready for Madame Bovary written by Gustave Flaubert in the mid 1850's. This is where the common sense comes in. I can't say yes to "age appropriate" literature either, because all children are not on the same level mentally nor academically. The parent should be the one to judge what their child is ready for or can handle.

Try doing a bit of research on the well known books that have went through trials about being banned. This is also a place where the wonderful politically correct idiots and religious fanatics come in. Look at the list below of the top 100 most frequently challenged books according to the American Library Association and see how many of them are considered classics (#5) or are by more modern, well known and respected authors (#7).

No, I don't think all books are appropriate for all children. And yes, in my opinion there are some books that don't seem appropriate for anyone (#53). That is simply my opinion, and I shouldn't have the right to force my views on someone else and have a book banned because I disagree with it. I think the parent should be the one to judge, not some PC police, not a religious group, not a church, not a politician.

There are books on the list that I probably wouldn't have allowed my children to read when they were young. Some of the homosexual materials could be a bit confusing to a child raised in a heterosexual environment. But, if the child is in a homosexual environment, then why not have materials available to them to help them make sense of what is going on around them and how to cope with what they go through on a daily basis. Do we really want these children being taunted, picked on, bullied and maybe even being beaten because of the parents lifestyle? I don't think so. People are, in general, mean at times. Children are even more so. Just because Billy has two daddies or Susie has two mommies or Jill has different race parents is no reason for the child to suffer.

The same goes for the religious and/or anti-religious literature. Just because my particular belief is not the same as someone else's, does that give me the right to interfere with their choices? No, of course not, but it happens every day.

I also was one that never hid reality from my kids when they were growing up. If you are sensitive, then PLEASE STOP READING HERE. If a book had "ugly" words in them, we would talk about the word, why it was used in the text and why I thought it was bad or ugly. This goes back to teaching the value system. In reality, our kids, and I mean all ages, not just teens, are going to hear all the cuss words we have ever heard of like the typical S.O.B. , b***h, ho, sl*t, and of course MF this and MF that, and probably a few more. They are going to be subjected to words like f*g**t, queer, f*g, lezzi, lezbo, d**e, black person, nigga, chink, wet-back, jap, beaner, jew, kike, wop,and a host of others. If they are going to hear it anyway, why try to hide it in their reading?

When words such as these come up, whether in what they hear or what they read, why not use it as an opportunity to teach them the values YOU want them to have? Use the opportunity for a bit of history - teach them how far we have came, and how much further we have to go, when it comes to prejudices. Remember, it really hasn't been that long ago that the term black person was considered "appropriate" terminology for a black person.

As for all the fictional characters mentioned, personally I think the most cruel of them all is Santa Claus. If you want to know why, just ask.


1. Scary Stories (Series) by Alvin Schwartz
2. Daddy's Roommate by Michael Willhoite
3. I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings by Maya Angelou
4. The Chocolate War by Robert Cormier
5. The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain
6. Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck
7. Harry Potter (Series) by J.K. Rowling
8. Forever by Judy Blume
9. Bridge to Terabithia by Katherine Paterson
10. Alice (Series) by Phyllis Reynolds Naylor
11. Heather Has Two Mommies by Leslea Newman
12. My Brother Sam is Dead by James Lincoln Collier and Christopher Collier
13. The Catcher in the Rye by J.D. Salinger
14. The Giver by Lois Lowry
15. It's Perfectly Normal by Robie Harris
16. Goosebumps (Series) by R.L. Stine
17. A Day No Pigs Would Die by Robert Newton Peck
18. The Color Purple by Alice Walker
19. Sex by Madonna
20. Earth's Children (Series) by Jean M. Auel
21. The Great Gilly Hopkins by Katherine Paterson
22. A Wrinkle in Time by Madeleine L'Engle
23. Go Ask Alice by Anonymous
24. Fallen Angels by Walter Dean Myers
25. In the Night Kitchen by Maurice Sendak
26. The Stupids (Series) by Harry Allard
27. The Witches by Roald Dahl
28. The New Joy of Gay Sex by Charles Silverstein
29. Anastasia Krupnik (Series) by Lois Lowry
30. The Goats by Brock Cole
31. Kaffir Boy by Mark Mathabane
32. Blubber by Judy Blume
33. Killing Mr. Griffin by Lois Duncan
34. Halloween ABC by Eve Merriam
35. We All Fall Down by Robert Cormier
36. Final Exit by Derek Humphry
37. The Handmaid's Tale by Margaret Atwood
38. Julie of the Wolves by Jean Craighead George
39. The Bluest Eye by Toni Morrison
40. What's Happening to my Body? Book for Girls: A Growing-Up Guide for Parents & Daughters by Lynda Madaras
41. To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee
42. Beloved by Toni Morrison
43. The Outsiders by S.E. Hinton
44. The Pigman by Paul Zindel
45. Bumps in the Night by Harry Allard
46. Deenie by Judy Blume
47. Flowers for Algernon by Daniel Keyes
48. Annie on my Mind by Nancy Garden
49. The Boy Who Lost His Face by Louis Sachar
50. Cross Your Fingers, Spit in Your Hat by Alvin Schwartz
51. A Light in the Attic by Shel Silverstein
52. Brave New World by Aldous Huxley
53. Sleeping Beauty Trilogy by A.N. Roquelaure (Anne Rice)
54. Asking About Sex and Growing Up by Joanna Cole
55. Cujo by Stephen King
56. James and the Giant Peach by Roald Dahl
57. The Anarchist Cookbook by William Powell
58. Boys and Sex by Wardell Pomeroy
59. Ordinary People by Judith Guest
60. American Psycho by Bret Easton Ellis
61. What's Happening to my Body? Book for Boys: A Growing-Up Guide for Parents & Sons by Lynda Madaras
62. Are You There, God? It's Me, Margaret by Judy Blume
63. Crazy Lady by Jane Conly
64. Athletic Shorts by Chris Crutcher
65. Fade by Robert Cormier
66. Guess What? by Mem Fox
67. The House of Spirits by Isabel Allende
68. The Face on the Milk Carton by Caroline Cooney
69. Slaughterhouse-Five by Kurt Vonnegut
70. Lord of the Flies by William Golding
71. Native Son by Richard Wright
72. Women on Top: How Real Life Has Changed Women's Fantasies by Nancy Friday
73. Curses, Hexes and Spells by Daniel Cohen
74. Jack by A.M. Homes
75. Bless Me, Ultima by Rudolfo A. Anaya
76. Where Did I Come From? by Peter Mayle
77. Carrie by Stephen King
78. Tiger Eyes by Judy Blume
79. On My Honor by Marion Dane Bauer
80. Arizona Kid by Ron Koertge
81. Family Secrets by Norma Klein
82. Mommy Laid An Egg by Babette Cole
83. The Dead Zone by Stephen King
84. The Adventures of Tom Sawyer by Mark Twain
85. Song of Solomon by Toni Morrison
86. Always Running by Luis Rodriguez
87. Private Parts by Howard Stern
88. Where's Waldo? by Martin Hanford
89. Summer of My German Soldier by Bette Greene
90. Little Black Sambo by Helen Bannerman
91. Pillars of the Earth by Ken Follett
92. Running Loose by Chris Crutcher
93. Sex Education by Jenny Davis
94. The Drowning of Stephen Jones by Bette Greene
95. Girls and Sex by Wardell Pomeroy
96. How to Eat Fried Worms by Thomas Rockwell
97. View from the Cherry Tree by Willo Davis Roberts
98. The Headless Cupid by Zilpha Keatley Snyder
99. The Terrorist by Caroline Cooney
100. Jump Ship to Freedom by James Lincoln Collier and Christopher Collier


“t's not just the books under fire now that worry me. It is the books that will never be written. The books that will never be read. And all due to the fear of censorship. As always, young readers will be the real losers.” — Judy Blume

[queenbee]

I agree