Banned Books Week 25 September - 1 October 2016

Banned Books Week celebrates the freedom to read, the fact that books push boundaries and that libraries give people the chance to access them.

Even some of our most popular children's and young adults books have been challenged or banned.

CAN YOU BELIEVE?

Black Beauty was banned in South Africa during apartheid just for having the word black in the title, no matter that it referred to a horse?

Harry Potter and the Philosophers Stone was banned and burned in many US states and also banned in some UK Christian schools for promoting witchcraft, really!

Roald Dahl’s Revolting Rhymes regularly features on banned or challenged lists in the US because, among other reasons, the 7 jockeys in Dahl’s parody of Snow White, made a fortune out of gambling. That must account for all the kids you see queuing at the bookies!

Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland was banned in a province in China for portraying animals on the same level as humans. Which species are being insulted here I wonder?

Charlotte’s Web was banned in America because talking animals were seen as ungodly. Mickey Mouse is still going strong though!

Most unbelievable of all, Anne Frank’s “Diary of a Young Girl” in Nazi occupied Amsterdam was banned in Alabama for being too depressing. Apparently they thought it was “a real downer”. Anne’s own words tell us differently, “I don’t think of all the misery but of the beauty that still remains”

Banned Books Week