ALA Banned Books Week Sept. 27 – Oct. 3 The American Library Association ( celebrates Banned Book Week each Septemberwww.ala.org

Private Parts are Off Limits in Either Fiction or Non-Fiction

Captain Underpants Insensitivity Being unsuited to age group Encouraging children to disobey authority

Walter the Farting Dog Uses the word “fart” and “farting” 24 times

Harry Potter Series Wizardry and Magic Portrays Authority Figures as “stupid”

Witchcraft/Wizardry

Scary/Violent Scenes/Themes Descriptions of injuries and trauma are too well written. Too violent Scary/violent

References to Gay and Lesbian Families

Anti-Authority

Offensive Language

Careful how you choose characters

Censorship is not just for fiction! Too depressing!

Julie of the Wolves Sexual content Offensive language Violence Socialist, evolutionist, and “anti-family” themes Unsuited for age group

The Chocolate War The Most Challenged Book of 1998 Offensive Language Unsuited to age group

A Light in the Attic Too dreary Too negative

The Giving Tree: Sexist

The Lorax Being an “allegorical political commentary”

Top Ten Challenged Authors Alvin Schwartz 2. Judy Blume 3. Robert Cormier 4. J.K. Rowling 5. Michael Willhoite 6. Katherine Paterson 7. Stephen King 8. Maya Angelou 9. R.L. Stine 10. John Steinbeck

The American Library Association (ALA) compiled the top 10 most challenged books from All but three of these books also were in the top 10 of the most challenged books of the 1990s. The ALA reports there were more than 3,000 attempts to remove books from schools and public libraries between 2000 and 2005.top 10 of the most challenged books of the 1990s The 10 most challenged books of the 21st Century ( ) are: 1. Harry Potter series by J.K. Rowling 2. "The Chocolate War" by Robert Cormier 3. Alice series by Phyllis Reynolds Naylor 4. "Of Mice and Men" by John Steinbeck 5. "I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings" by Maya Angelou 6. "Fallen Angels" by Walter Dean Myers 7. "It's Perfectly Normal" by Robie Harris 8. Scary Stories series by Alvin Schwartz 9. Captain Underpants series by Dav Pilkey 10. "Forever" by Judy Blume Challenges are defined as formal, written complaints filed with a library or school requesting that materials be removed because of content or appropriateness..

Definitions Censorship: The removal, suppression, or restricted circulation of literary, artistic, or educational materials on the grounds that they are morally or otherwise objectionable (Reichman, 1988). Selection: The right to choose certain books and reject other for use with children on the basis of literary quality and knowledge of child development and psychology. Does not insist upon removing the rejected books from the shelves for everyone else (Jalongo & Creany, 1991).

How are books challenged? Individuals, organizations, or institutions may challenge a book. The organization to whom the challenge has been made then reports the challenge to the Office of Intellectual Freedom, where it is added to the database on reported challenges. The OIF uses this database to create its “top” lists and to provide resources to libraries, schools, and institutions.