When initially thinking about children’s literature, there were three main characteristics that I thought a book must have to be considered children’s literature and those three characteristics were that they taught lessons, were of a lower lexicon and were entertaining to the reader. Also I thought children’s literature had always been around since the dawn of the printing press. It never occurred to me that children’s literature was a fairly new genre. After reading Glazer, Nodelman, Reynolds and West my perspective on children’s literature was greatly broaden and changed. First, Nodelman pushes the idea that children’s literature parallels the history of childhood (Nodelman, 22). Through reading Nodelman’s text, my view has been changed …show more content…
The lessons taught to children by the puritanical books, though, were far from the rudimentary ideas that I had of teaching children morality through gentle children’s books. An insight that I gained from reading West’s article Teaching Banned Children’s Books was that Children’s literature as a genre is much more powerful than what I gave it credit for. In fact, the idea of children’s literature lacking power as a genre because the wording is simple is far from true. Children’s literature elicits many strong emotions and draws critics because of the types of ideas that the genre exposes young minds to. West introduces that censorship is used in children’s literature to prevent children from being exposed to ideas that are too controversial, challenge authority, contained sexuality, described violent acts, and address social problems (West,1). Exposing children to these difficult and controversial ideas at early age is important because children should have the right to come to their own conclusions on these topics rather than have an adult render that their minds are not ready to process such big …show more content…
Fallen Angels, Halloween ABC, and The Great Gilly Hopkins were considered the “Most Frequently Banned Books in the Last 25 Years.” These books were all surprising to me because they didn’t contain any material that I consider inappropriate. For the most part I draw my boundaries at books that deal with social issues towards sexuality and books that deal with mental illness. If I wouldn’t read the book myself, then I would not want my future child to read the book. The books listed above are either on the list because cartoon characters’ lack clothing or because the books challenge adult authority or the governments sovereignty. Cartoon characters lacking clothing is not the worst that someone’s child will ever see in a school setting and I find it ridiculous to censor literature on that basis. I think that children should be taught to question societal norms and find what works for them. By censoring books like The Giver children are not exposed to other realities that could exist if censorship continues. I think the limits of parental control on such books such diminish because I think that children should decide for themselves what to read. While a parent may think they are doing
In the article censorship: a personal view by Judy bulme she discusses and touches on censorship in literature in children and young adolescence books. Now in article there are a lot of possible exigencies listed threw out the article one of the main exigencies is that Judy bulme has personal experience with censorship as a little girl, with that personal account she has familiarity that compels and gives her credibility to write this article. With exigencie their also comes a purpose bulme’s purpose in the article is trying to convince parents that you should not coddle a young teen or an adolescent from literature that may not be suitable for them, but let their mind wonder and explain it after they read it. Also she communicates that censorship
Books are banned for many reasons but more times than not it is because of the sensitive information found within the novel that agitates the reader. As long as people have been able to develop their own opinions, others have sought to prevent them from sharing. At some point in time, every idea has ultimately become objectionable to someone. The most frequently challenged and most visible targets of such objection are the very books found in classrooms and public libraries. These controversial novels teach lessons that sometimes can be very sensitive to some but there is much more to challenged books than a controversial topic. What lies within these pages is a wealth of knowledge, such as new perspectives for readers, twisting plots, and expressions that are found nowhere else. For example, To Kill A Mockingbird, contains references to rape, racial content, and profanity that have caused many to challenge the novel in the first place. The book was banned from countless
Trelease, Jim. "Book Banning Violates Children and Young Adult Freedoms." Book Banning. Ed. Ronnie D. Lankford. Detroit: Greenhaven Press, 2007. At Issue. Rpt. from "Censorship and Children's Books." Trelease-on-Reading.com. 2006.Opposing Viewpoints in Context. Web. 31 Mar. 2014.
...etter than ignorance. Book censorship should not limit the amount of knowledge a child can receive, instead, books should be used to benefit children in their education and future career.
School boards and teachers have a responsibility for protecting the minds of their students and covering age appropriate material. However, does this responsibility cover the extreme act of banning books from school classrooms? Does not the teacher have a duty to introduce to their students world issues in order to better the students ability to cope with problems in the world? How does a school decide which books should be banned from the classroom, and should it be left up to the teacher to decide what is decided in his/her classroom. By banning books from the classroom, we prevent our students from learning about controversial topics in a safe environment, and we also encroach upon the student’s freedom of reading what they want in school.
Griffith, John, and Charles Frey. Classics of Children's Literature. 6th ed. New Jersey: Pearson Prentice Hall, 2005. 21-29, 322-374. Print.
Some people may argue that students should have a right to read what they prefer because we are denying them of their first amendment freedoms of the press and freedom of speech. No book should be banned due to improper themes in them. Books are a gift in which authors can express their opinion and beliefs and we can read about them. Kids should be able to be open minded to all books, banning books won’t affect you but it’ll affect children, which is what many
“It’s not just the books under fire now that worry me. It is the books that will never be written, the books that will never be read. And all due to the fear of censorship. As always, young readers will be the real losers” (Blume 1999). Judy Blume can not explain the problem of book censorship any clearer. The children are the real losers because they are the ones that are not able to read the classic works of literature which are the backbone of classroom discussions all across the United States.
This burden often falls on teachers. The purpose of this research paper is to discuss censorship in schools and to argue that the censorship of books in the high school English curriculum is limiting and takes away literature that is meaningful to students. How a Book is Censored Brinkley describes a few actions that can lead to the censoring of a book in a school or school system: An expression of concern is simply a question about the material with overtones of disapproval; an oral complaint is an oral challenge to the contents of a work; a written complaint is a formal written challenge to the school about the contents of a work; and a public attack is a public statement challenging the contents of a work that is made outside of the school, usually to the media to gain support for further action (1999). Brinkley also points out an important difference between selection and censorship: Selection is the act of carefully choosing works for an English course that will be age-appropriate, meaningful, and fulfill objectives, while censorship is the act of excluding works that some con... ...
Russell, Rick. "Studies in Censorship - the Index of Banned Books." Yahoo Contributor Network. N.p., n.d. Web. 06 Jan. 2014.
Books like The Chocolate War, I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings, and Of Mice and Men have been placed on the controversial bookshelf of many school libraries.
The subject of censorship is a very controversial one, especially the banning of books. Many people believe they must protect themselves and others from the "evils" of many classic books and works of art because they can be deemed "indecent" in one way or another. Many believe that this is absurd and censorship in its current form is a violation of our First Amendment right to free speech. Personally, I align myself with the latter, however I do feel there are occasions where censorship is justifiable.
... (eds), Children’s Literature Classic Text and Contemporary Trends, Basingstoke, Palgrave Macmillan in association with Open University
This story is one that some critics have considered as politically and morally offensive labelling it as an implicit endorsement of inequality and prejudice. Kohl in his book Should We Burn Babar? Essays on Children’s Literature and the Power of Stories (1995), addresses issues that transcend children’s literature. His work is considered as a reflection of his status as a relentless passionate supporter of children and a progressive educational reform. In his essay, Kohl questions how power is represented in children’s literature “The first and simplest question I would like to ask is: Who has the power in Babar?” He questions the message contained in the popular Babar books by arguing that it matters what children read and that literature has the power to exert influence on them, which could end up being harmful to them as they grow.
The construction of children’s literature was a gradual process. For a long period of time children’s books were frowned upon. The stories were said to be vulgar and frightening. Adults censored children’s ears to stories of daily life, tales with improbable endings were not to be heard. It was not until the mid 1800s that stories of fairies and princesses began to be recognized. Although children’s literature was accepted, the books were not available for all children. With limited access to education, few public libraries, and the books’ costs, these texts were only available to the middle and high- class. As public education and libraries grew so did the accessibility of books and their popularity. They no longer were considered offensive, but rather cherished and loved by many children. Children’s literature became orthodox and a revolution began, changing literature as it was known.