|
|
Exercise your freedom to read with these children's books! |
|
|
|
|
The Adventures of Captain Underpants
by Dav Pilkey
When George and Harold hypnotize their principal into thinking that
he is the superhero Captain Underpants, he leads them to the lair
of the nefarious Dr. Diaper, where they must defeat his evil robot henchmen.
Challenged for offensive language, violence, and being unsuited
to age group
|
|
|
|
And Tango Makes Three
by Justin Richardson
When male penguins Silo and Roy attempt to hatch an egg-shaped rock and find no success in their efforts, the zookeepers decide to place a fertilized penguin egg in their cage and end up with little baby Tango,
in an amusing tale based on a true story from the Central Park Zoo.
Challenged for being anti-family and unsuited for age group.
|
|
|
|
Bridge to Terabithia
by Katherine Paterson
This Newbery Medal-winning novel by Katherine Paterson has been a modern classic about friendship and loss for 40 years.
Jess has been practicing all summer so he can be the fastest runner in the fifth grade. And he almost is, until the new girl in school, Leslie Burke, outpaces him. The two become fast friends and spend most days in the woods behind Leslie's house, where they invent an enchanted land called Terabithia. One morning, Leslie goes to Terabithia without Jess and a tragedy occurs.
It will take the love of his family and the strength that
Leslie has given him for Jess to be able to deal with his grief.
Challenged for concerns about disrespect, foul language and confusion that could be created when kids read about Terabithia.
|
|
|
|
Brown Bear, Brown Bear, What Do You See?
by Bill Martin
In this classic, children see a variety of animals, each one a different color, and a teacher looking at them.
Challenged over concerns that the author was a communist.
|
|
|
|
Charlotte's Web
by E. B. White
Wilbur, the pig, is desolate when he discovers that he is destined to
be the farmer's Christmas dinner until his spider friend, Charlotte, decides to help him.
Challenged due to themes of death and the fact that the main characters are talking animals
|
|
|
|
Let's Get Invisible
by R. L Stine
Discovering a magic mirror that has the power to render people
invisible, Max begins playing a game of "now you see me, now
you don't" with his friends that becomes increasingly difficult for
him to control.
Banned for being too graphic and scary for children.
|
|
|
|
Hansel and Gretel Stories Around the World
by Cari Meister
Think there's just one fairy tale with two children sent into the woods? Think again! Cultures all around the world have their own Hansel and Gretel stories. Visit Germany, Russia, Italy, and Japan, and find out who follows a line of ashes instead of breadcrumbs, and who escapes the witch using a handkerchief that turns into a river.
Challenged in 1992 by two witches who claimed it painted witches
in a bad light.
|
|
|
|
Harriet, the Spy
by Louise Fitzhugh
Harriet M. Welsch is a spy who writes down everything about everyone she sees -- including her classmates and her best friends -- in her notebook. Then Harriet loses track of her notebook, and it ends up in the wrong hands. Will Harriet find a way to put her life and her friendships back together?
Challenged over concerns that the book encouraged bad behavior.
|
|
|
|
Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone
by J. K. Rowling
Rescued from the outrageous neglect of his aunt and uncle, a young
boy with a great destiny proves his worth while attending Hogwarts School for Witchcraft and Wizardry.
Challenged for referring to magic and witchcraft, for containing curses and spells, and for characters that use “nefarious means” to attain goals.
|
|
|
|
I Am Jazz!
by Jessica Herthel
Based on the young co-author's real-life experiences, the story of a transgender child traces her early awareness that she is a girl in spite
of male anatomy and the acceptance she finds through a wise doctor who explains her natural transgender status.
Challenged and relocated for LGBTQIA+ content, for a transgender character, and for confronting a topic that is “sensitive, controversial,
and politically charged.”
|
|
|
|
It's a Book
by Lane Smith
A donkey with a laptop computer and a gorilla with a printed book discuss the merits of their preferred formats.
Challenged for language
|
|
|
|
James and the Giant Peach
by Roald Dahl
A young boy escapes from two wicked aunts and embarks on a
series of adventures with six giant insects he meets inside a
giant peach.
Challenged for including a vulgar word. Later challenged for having a 'mystical element,' potentially sexual content, and for "advocating communism".
|
|
|
|
A Light in the Attic
by Shel Silverstein
A collection of humorous poems and drawings by one of the world's
most famous authors of children's poetry.
Challenged for promoting, and even encouraging, disobedience, violence, suicide, Satan and cannibalism.
|
|
|
|
Junie B. Jones and the Stupid Smelly Bus
by Barbara Park
Junie B. Jones will do just about anything to avoid riding on the stinky, smelly, awful school bus.
Challenged for promoting poor social values; also, Junie B. Jones makes for a poor role model due to her mouthiness, bad spelling, and grammar.
|
|
|
|
The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe
by C. S. Lewis
Four English schoolchildren find their way through the back of a wardrobe into the magic land of Narnia and assist Aslan, the golden
lion, to triumph over the White Witch, who has cursed the land with eternal winter.
Challenged for graphic violence, mysticism and gore.
|
|
|
|
My Mom's Having a Baby!
by Dori Hillestad Butler
Told through the voice of the excited big sister, an informative look
at how babies come about. Traces the embryo's development, explains conception, and shows the process of her mother going into labor..
Challenged for nudity, sex education, being sexually explicit and
unsuited to age group.
|
|
|
|
My Princess Boy
by Cheryl Kilodavis
A four-year-old boy loves dressing up in princess clothing. A nonfiction picture book about acceptance ... to give children and adults a tool to
talk about unconditional friendship.
Challenged by complaints that the book promotes "perversion"
and the "gay lifestyle."
|
|
|
|
Prince & Knight
by Daniel Haack
In this modern fairy tale, a noble prince and a brave knight come
together to defeat a terrible monster and in the process find true
love in a most unexpected place.
Challenged for being “a deliberate attempt to indoctrinate young children” with the potential to cause confusion, curiosity, and gender dysphoria; and for conflicting with a religious viewpoint.
|
|
|
|
Something Happened in Our Town:
A Child's Story about Racial Injustice
by Marianne Celano
After discussing the police shooting of a local Black man with their families, Emma and Josh know how to treat a new student who looks and speaks differently than his classmates.
Challenged for “divisive language” and because it was thought to promote anti-police views.
|
|
|
|
Sylvester and the Magic Pebble
by William Steig
In a moment of fright, Sylvester the donkey asks his magic pebble to
turn him into a rock but then cannot hold the pebble to wish himself
back to normal again.
Challenged for its anthropomorphic portrayal of police as pigs
(alongside some other animal embodiments).
|
|
|
|
This Day in June
by Gayle E. Pitman
A picture book illustrating a Pride parade. The end matter serves as a primer on LGBT history and culture and explains the references made
in the story.
Challenged and burned for including LGBTQIA+ content.
|
|
|
|
Where the Wild Things Are
by Maurice Sendak
Max, a naughty little boy, sent to bed without his supper, sails to the land of the wild things where he becomes their king.
Challenged for depicting child abuse (no supper for Max), for being
“too dark,” and showing supernatural elements.
|
|
|
|
Worm Loves Worm
by J. J Austrian
A simply told celebration of love in all its splendid forms finds the insect community preparing to attend the wedding of two apparently identical worms and wondering which will wear the tux and which the gown
before deciding it does not matter..
Challenged for LGBTQIA+ content.
|
|
|
|
A Wrinkle in Time
by Madeleine L'Engle
Meg Murry and her friends become involved with unearthly strangers
and a search for Meg's father, who has disappeared while engaged in secret work for the government.
Challenged for "undermining Christianity by showing the occult and
lowering Jesus to the level of secular philosophers and scientists".
|
|
|
|
|
|
|