Move aside, Goodnight Moon. The newest children’s classics are hitting library shelves near you … and they’re kinky in all the colors of the rainbow.
I walked into my local Chicago Public Library (CPL) branch, heading over to the holds section to pick up my newest read. Book secured, I went to check out, passing by the children’s section on the way. The front display caught my eye. “I’M WITH THE BANNED: BANNED BOOKS WEEK” was proudly emblazoned on a cardboard sign in an edgy, stenciled font.
I wondered, do six-year-olds even know what a banned book is?
Some of my favorite books, such as To Kill A Mockingbird and A Wrinkle in Time, were once banned. Now, they’re widely read and celebrated. I don’t believe I learned what a banned book was until middle or high school, but I generally understood this category of books to refer to works that ranged from the downright obscene to those that tackled challenging topics and bucked cultural norms of their day.
Interest piqued, I took a closer look. Prominently displayed were titles like Pride: The Story of Harvey Milk and the Rainbow Flag, Worm Loves Worm, and Julián is a Mermaid. First, zero points for diversity of topic and viewpoint. I didn’t see Matt Walsh’s Johnny The Walrus featured alongside Julián (ironically, some have called for Walsh’s book to be banned from Chicagoland schools). Second, a book about the unconventional nuptial activities of garden invertebrates was not on my bingo card for
