Books That Were Once Banned

I just read an article about books that were once banned and for what reasons. It really intrigued me, so I decided to look up other books that had once been banned, and it’s pretty shocking. Here are my top 5:

1. Brave New World. Aldous Huxley.

Banned in Ireland (1932). Removed from classroom in Miller, Mo. (1980). Challenged at the Yukon, Okla. High School (1988); challenged as required reading in the Corona-Norco, Calif. Unified School District (1993) because the book “centered around negative activity.”

2. Anne Frank: The Diary of a Young Girl. Anne Frank.

Challenged in Wise County, Va. (1982) due to “sexually offensive” passages. Four members of the Alabama State Textbook Committee (1983) called for the rejection of this book because it is a “real downer.

3. James and the Giant Peach. Roald Dahl.

Challenged at the Deep Creek Elementary School in Charlotte Harbor, Fla. (1991) because it is “not appropriate reading material for young children.” Challenged at the Pederson Elementary School in Altoona, Wis. (1991) and at the Morton Elementary School library in Brooksville, Fla. (1992) because the book contains the word “ass” and “promotes” the use of drugs (tobacco, snuff) and whiskey. Removed from classrooms in Stafford County, Va. Schools (1995) and placed in restricted access in the library because the story contains crude language and encourages children to disobey their parents and other adults.

4. A Light in the Attic. Shel Silverstein.

Challenged at the Cunningham Elementary School in Beloit, Wis. (1985) because the book “enourages children to break dishes so they won’t have to dry them.” Removed from Minot, N.Dak. Public School libraries when the superintendent found “suggestive illustrations.” Challenged at the Big Bend Elementary School library in Mukwonago, Wis. (1986) because some of Silverstein’s poems “glorified Satan, suicide and cannibalism, and also encouraged children to be disobedient.

5. The Lorax. Dr. Seuss.

Random. Challenged in the Laytonville, Calif. Unified School District (1989) because it “criminalizes the foresting industry.”

info via http://title.forbiddenlibrary.com/