Wittenberg University Examining Censorship: An Analysis of Challenged or Banned Picture Books Roberta Linder, Ed.D. Wittenberg University AMLE Conference Columbus, Ohio October 15, 2015

Picture books introduce students to the issue of censorship Picture books introduce students to the issue of censorship. This session presents picture books that have been banned or challenged and activities to engage students in an examination of the censorship of literary works. Banned Books Week 2015 September 27 – October 3

Definitions Challenged: when an individual or group objects to a book and attempt to have it removed Banned: the challenge is upheld and the book is removed Censorship: suppression of the production or distribution of texts that some individuals or groups have determined to be undesirable.

Controversial Picture Books

'And Tango Makes Three,' Justin Richardson and Peter Parnell Years on Most Challenged list: 2014, 2012, 2010, 2009, 2008, 2007, 2006 Reasons cited: “Homosexuality, anti-family, religious viewpoint, unsuited to age group” **Based on the true story of Rory and Silo, two male penguins in New York’s Central Park Zoo who formed a couple and raised a baby together, And Tango Makes Three has been controversial ever since its 2005 publication. The depiction of a natural, healthy homosexual relationship among animals has raised the ire of conservative parents and advocates, some of whom believe the book promotes “the homosexual agenda.” Entertainment Weekly, 9-29-15

Anti-family, homosexuality, political viewpoint, religious viewpoint, unsuited for age group

**First published in 1989 **The 11th most frequently challenged book in the U.S. in the 1990s **Has been challenged 42 times by legislators and parents—removal from public and school library shelves (Kristin Pekoll, assistant director, ALA Office for Intellectual Freedom

Challenged due to objectionable language and use of the word Jap

Language (farts and farting used 24 times)

Sexual content—Willy is a sperm.

Nudity, sex education, sexually explicit, unsuited to age group

Gay marriage, two male characters kissing, unsuited to age group

Banned in China from 1965-1991 due to it portrayal of Marxism

Image of a masked burglar pointing a gun at a woman—too violent for young readers Steven Kellogg revised this scene in a later publication of the book (see article.)

Boy throwing a tantrum was considered dangerous behavior and glorifying Max’s anger; some psychologists felt it was “too dark and frightening” (1969)

Mickey is shown nude in the dream sequence.

The image of spanking—the last duck in line each day was spanked; some point to the images of the Chinese people (i.e., yellow complexion, very slanted eyes)

Graphic Novels Persepolis: gambling, offensive language, political viewpoint, graphic depictions Bone: political viewpoint, racism, violence Drama: sexually explicit

Websites Banned & Challenged Books (ALA) http://www.ala.org/bbooks National Coalition Against Censorship http://ncac.org/issue/books Banned Books Lists https://www.goodreads.com/list/tag/banned History http://www.shortlist.com/entertainment/books/a-history-of-banned-books

Banned Books Week Virtual Read-Out http://www.bannedbooksweek.org/virtualreadout

Frameworks For Analysis

Here-Hidden-Head Here: Answers found in the text (words and pictures) Hidden: Answers found scattered throughout the text; must make connections and synthesize Head: Answers not found directly in text; require connections to experiences or opinions Harris, A. (2011). How effective are print-based comprehension models for reading and accessing multimodal texts? Literacy Learning: The Middle Years, 19(3), 19-32.

Comprehending Multimodal Texts Previewing-noticing-naming: noting the peritextual features (i.e., cover, setting, illustration style, book jacket, etc. along with visual and textual features Interpretation: a second reading of the text; focus on point of view of narrator, relationship between characters and reader Critical analysis: consider historical, cultural, political, and social background and symbols in the text Youngs, S., & Serafini, F. (2011). Comprehension strategies for reading historical fiction picturebooks. The Reading Teacher, 65(2), 115 124.

Noticings-Meanings-Implications (analysis of visual elements) What we notice What It Might Mean Implications Students record and describe the visual images they see in a text. Students make connections to their prior experience and knowledge. Students consider how the images connect to the sociocultural context of the text. In the first edition of Pinkerton, Behave! the robber was holding a gun; in the second edition, there was no gun. The illustrator decided to revise that part of the book because of all the shootings taking place. There has been much media coverage of school shootings, gun violence, and gun control laws. This could have affected the illustrator’s decision. Serafini, F. (2011). Expanding perspectives for comprehending visual images in multimodal texts. Journal of Adolescent & Adult Literacy, 54(5), 342-350.

5 Key Questions (Center for Media Literacy at http://www.medialit.org) For picture book texts Questions Who is the author? The illustrator? What do you know about the background they bring to the work? What do you notice about the author’s word choice? What about the formatting of the print text? The illustrator’s choice of medium, style, or color? What different types of people would read this text? (e.g., gender, age, SES, race/ethnicity, religion, sexual orientation) How might they interpret the contents? What values, lifestyles, points of view does the author or illustrator choose to portray or not portray? Why do you think the author chose to write this book? What is his/her message? What messages are portrayed by the illustrations? Who created this message? What creative techniques are used to attract my attention? How might different people understand this message differently? What values, lifestyles, and points of view are represented in, or omitted from, this message? Why is this message being sent?

Poster Project Title and author Image of the book Summary Awards Analyze how the book portrays each of these: Gender Age Family structure Socioeconomic status Sexual orientation Religion

Related articles Linder, R. (2015). Exploring censorship: Using challenged and banned picture books to introduce middle and high school students to a controversial topic. Reading Today, 33(2), 36-38. Linder, R. (2015). Multimodality in children’s school based texts. In F. Falk-Ross (Ed.), Language-based approaches to support reading comprehension (pp. 167-180). Lanham, MD: Rowman & Littlefield.

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