Controversial Children's Picture Books..

(according to amazon.com)

Standing Up by Marie-Anne Gillet; Isabelle Gilboux

"A book on a boy learning how to pee, as the title suggests, standing up."

Where Willy Went by Nicholas Allan

Willy is a fast swimming sperm and this story takes on a rather odd whimsical approach to the baby-making process, though it does provide some insight for youngsters on where babies come from."

In the Night Kitchen (Caldecott Collection) by Maurice Sendak

Challenged because of the little boy shown nude in the story, Sendak's classic has inspired some folks (even librarians) to draw clothes or glue clothes on him!"

And Tango Makes Three by Peter Parnell

"Based on the true story of two male penguins at the zoo who hatch and raise an orphaned chick, this book might take anthropomorphizing a bit far at times. But this book has folks up in arms for the implications it might have in the human world. Ages 6 and up."

The Un-Wedding by Babette Cole

"A startlingly different book on divorce where two kids whose parents hate each other have an "unwedding" for them. Not necessarily the most realistic approach to divorce for most."

Goodnight Moon by Margaret Wise Brown

"Yes, this good old classic has a controversy surrounding it: the picture of the author on the back originally had a cigarette in his hand, the publisher digitally erased it from later publications and hubbub ensued in the book community!"

The Lorax (Classic Seuss) by Dr. Seuss

"This classic by Dr. Seuess won the ire of the logging industry, who challenged it as negatively portraying said industry in this "tree hugger" book."

Where's Waldo?: Reissue by Martin Handford

"I'm unaware whether the reissue has the challenged pick, but apparently when most folks were looking for Waldo, someone found a lady with her bikini top off . . . furor naturally followed."

The Story of Ferdinand by Munro Leaf

"Not a recent controversy, but when Ferdinand came out it was challenged as promoting a pacifist agenda."

Halloween ABC by Eve Merriam

"Plenty of Halloween stuff gets challenged on the basis that it includes the occult and/or frightening images for children, this is one of the top challenged picture books on the subject."

The Story of Little Black Sambo by Helen Bannerman

Ah, a famous book for controversy, more for the pics than the story, since the boy in the story is actually Indian. Several reworkings of this are available that change the title and the images, but the classic tale still raises eyebrows."

Little Red Riding Hood by Trina Schart Hyman

"I think this is the version that was challenged on the basis of Red Riding Hood having wine in that basket she was taking to grandma . . ."

Sylvester and the Magic Pebble (Stories to Go!) by William Steig

"The biggest issue I've heard in regards to this Steig classic is that all the characters are animals of one sort or another. And Steig draws the police as--you guessed it--pigs."

Happy to Be Nappy (Jump at the Sun) by bell hooks

"Another book that's got mixed opinions. The idea of "nappy hair" seems to raise red flags, though the book is a positive image builder for gals that have this sort of hair."

Manneken Pis: A Simple Story of a Boy Who Peed on a War by Vladimir Radunsky

"Okay, don't know what I think of this book, except that it's definitely a book for boys! About a boy who stops a war by peeing on it."

Pinkerton, Behave! by Steven Kellogg

"Kellog's "bad dog" story may be funny, but many feel the burgaler holding a gun to the mother's head not once, but twice in pictures is just unacceptably scary for a picture book for young children."

The Sissy Duckling by Harvey Fierstein

"If you can't tell from the cover, there is a definite gay theme to this story by Harvey Fierstein, but there's also an objection to the use of "Sissy" as a positive thing, as the word is meant as an insult."

A Light in the Attic by Shel Silverstein

"This grandmaster of children's poetry is often challenged for his outrageous and often shocking poems. "Someone Ate the Baby" being an example."

The Amazing Bone (Reading Rainbow Book) by William Steig

"Another Steig on the list! Here there were objections because one of the animal characters uses tobacco."

The Five Chinese Brothers (Paperstar) by Claire Huchet Bishop

"This story of five brothers with special talents who manage to thwart execution is one I loved as a child. It's a folk tale with many versions, but this version has raised eyebrows because of its violent content, and for the non-PC character depictions."

The Stupids Have a Ball (Sandpiper) by Harry G. Allard

"This is the 27th most censored book on the ALA's top hundred challenged books from 1990-1999. Mostly for depicting family in a derogatory way."

The Rabbits' Wedding by Garth Williams

"Here's a historical one, this one was put on the reserve shelf in Alabama in 1959 because it depicted a black rabbit marrying a white rabbit. Thus, I suppose, interracial marriage. Wonder what they made of the Owl and the Pussycat . .

Little Zizi by Thierry Lenain

The most controversial children's books of all time...

(according to amazon.com)

His Dark Materials Trilogy (The Golden Compass; The Subtle Knife; The Amber Spyglass) by Philip Pullman

"Winner of every award you can imagine. The most recent young adult series under fire from the religious right mostly because the books author Philip Pullman, an atheist, says his books are about killing God."

The Higher Power of Lucky, by Susan Patron

"A winner of the Newberry Medal, the most prestigious award in children’s literature. But some libraries banned the book because of the word "scrotum.""


Adventures of Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain

"The subject of racism has followed this classic as well as praise and contempt."

Heather Has Two Mommies: 10th Anniversary Edition (Alyson Wonderland) by Leslea Newman

"The book title says it all."

The Catcher in the Rye by J.D. Salinger

"An instant classic, one of the most significant literary works of the 20th century, immortalized when the murderer of Beatle John Lennon was found carrying a copy."

To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee

"Pulitzer Prize-winning novel, great reading, but has drawn a lot of heat beecause of racially derogatory language."

Daddy's Roommate (Alyson Wonderland) by Michael Willhoit

"Much like Willhoite's other book listed."

Bridge to Terabithia by Katherine Paterson

"Another Newberry Medal winner, but this one has been accused of being satanic and promoting secular humanism."

Harry Potter Boxset Books 1-7 by J. K. Rowling

#7 on the list of The 100 Most Frequently Challenged Books..."

Forever . . . by Judy Blume

"Blume's tackles children's serious thoughts about sex and her candid portrayal of a teenage sexual relationship has been causing controversy since it was printed in 1975."

Asian Pacific American Award

History of the APAA
Founded in 1980 as the Asian/Pacific American Librarians Association (APALA)
Became part of the American Library Association (ALA) in 1982
Branched off from the Asian American Librarians Caucus (AALC)
A nonprofit organization

Purpose of APALA
To provide a forum for discussing problems of APA librarians.
To provide a forum for the exchange of ideas by APA librarians with other librarians.
To support and encourage library services to APA communities.
To recruit and mentor APA librarians in the library/information science professions.
To seek funding for scholarships in library/information science masters programs for APAs.
To provide a vehicle whereby APA librarians can cooperate with other associations and organizations having similar or allied interests.


According to http://www.apalaweb.org/about/aboutapala.htm

APALA Awards
Asian Pacific American Award for Literature
Honors work about Asian/Pacific Americans and their heritage on both literary and artistic merit
Three awards for illustrations in a picture book, youth literature and adult books


APALA Awards
Scholarship Award
Gives a student of Asian/Pacific background financial support
Must be enrolled in a master’s or doctoral degree
Must be working towards a degree in library and/or information science at a library school accredited by the ALA

APALA 2008 Award Winners
Adult Non-Fiction
Driven Out: The Forgotten War Against Chinese Americans By: Jean Pfaelzer
Illustration in Children Literature
Surfer of the Centruy By: Ellie Crowe, Illustrated by: Richard Waldrep
Young Adult Literature
Hiroshima Dreams By: Kelly Easton


Eligibility Requirements
These are a few of the several requirements for eligibility to receive the APALA award:
Works must be related to Asian/Pacific Heritage, not necessarily written by or illustrated by an Asian/Pacific American. The individual must be a U.S. citizen or permanent resident.
Anthologies or books containing the work of more than one author are not eligible.
Works must be originally written in English.
Works must have been published by a large publishing house, trade or small press/publisher located in the United States or one of its territories. Self-published works and exclusive internet publications are not eligible.

Who Decides?
Nominating Committee
Committee Charge: To nominate candidates for elective offices of APALA. The Nominating Committee shall consist of at least three past APALA presidents. The immediate past president shall be appointed chair.
The Literary Awards Committee
Committee Charge: To solicit nominations, review and vote for an award each for Adult Fiction, Illustration in Children's Literature, and Youth Literature.

The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-time Indian

I know it was a couple of weeks ago when we were discussing Native Americans, but I stumbled across a book the other day worth mentioning. I pretty much live at Barnes and Nobel and the other day I came across a book called: The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-time Indian. I then realized it was by Sherman Alexie. I read his book "Indian Killer" over the summer and absolutely loved him. "The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-time Indian" is Alexie's first book for young adults. The book is about this boy named Junior who loves to draw cartoons. He leaves his school on the Spokane Indian Reservation and attends an all-white high school. There's talk about the school's mascot, like when we read "Heart of a Chief" and I truly believe this book would be a good book to keep in mind for next year's class. I did like how "Heart of a Chief" was not about a boy in search of his identity, torn between two worlds, like many Native American novels. And although this book by Alexie discusses a Native American boy's attempts to break away from his heritage, and the struggle he has with his own identity, the story is based on a lot of Alexie's own experiences, so it has a very realistic feel. I'm really excited to read this book.

Bronx Masquerade

I really enjoyed reading the book "Bronx Masquerade". The book seemed very unique and unlike anything I have read before. I especially liked the way it was broken into stories and poems. Although the multi-vocal text was hard to keep up with at times, I enjoyed the different point of views. I think the majority of the class enjoyed the book also. The discussions in class seemed to be praising the book and thinking of how the format of the book contributed to the readers opinion of the book. I would definitely recommend this book to teachers in middle school or high school. I love poetry and I think this book did an excellent job of showing how poetry is a great way to express yourself, and to learn a lot about others.

Arab Stereotyping

Before I embark on reading "Habibi" by Naomi Shihab Nye for class, I wanted to address the topic of Arab stereotyping. After September 11th, this stereotyping reached a whole new level. And I'm ashamed to admit, I contribute(d)to it. No, I did not verbally discriminate anyone or through my actions make any one feel unwanted.. but to this day when I get on a plane and I see an Arab, 9/11 quickly comes to mind. I dismiss this thought for I know that it is immature to relate all Arabs to the terrorists attacks of that tragic September day. But for that quick second, that thought was there. And I feel bad for it. The thing is, I know I am not the only one who takes part in airline passenger profiling. It's sad to think of all the innocent Arabs and Muslims that were taken off planes or not allowed to board because of their ethnicity.

The stereotyping of Arabs goes back way before 9/11. Think of the Disney movie, "Aladdin". Aren't all the characters Arabic? Then why is it that Aladdin and the Princess, who conveniently look so American, are the ones we are rooting for, while Jaffar, with his strong Arabic physical characteristics, is deemed the evil one? Sure, I never really picked up on this as a child, but now that I see this negative stereotyping I can't NOT see it. Children are being exposed to these negative stereotypes before they even leave the house and enter into the real world. No wonder negative stereotypes still exist. You can't get away from them.




I hope that "Habibi" will address such stereotypes, and get its readers to not only acknowledge that such stereotypes exist, but inspire its readers to no longer take part in stereotyping.

Insider/Outsider debate

The "insider/outsider" debate is a very interesting debate, and honestly I don't know what side of the debate I stand on. I can see both sides. I would hate to limit writers and researchers by saying, you aren't white enough, black enough, female enough, gay enough, or so forth, so you can't write about a certain topic. How can I write a book about the troubles of being a certain thing, if I have never experienced first hand any of those troubles? How could I write about the inner turmoil or relief I felt coming out to my parents, if I never did that? How could I write about the pain my family still suffers due to the slavery imposed on them generations ago, if no one in my family was ever a slave? I really don't think I could do the literature justice.

At the same time, if I have done my research and I have talked to people who have experienced certain turmoils or victories, why can't a write about being white, black, female, gay, or so forth? Maybe I AM white but I grew up near a reservation, I experienced and saw first hand the turmoil of those living on the Native American reservation. I probably could write a very insightful piece of literature about living on a reservation, maybe even more so than someone who is Native American but did not grow up on a reservation. But I bet many members of society would critique me and say I am not Native American enough to be writing about Native Americans.

But how often does an outsider writer have this sort of background? Usually the outsider writer has an academic background, and has(hopefully)done research via books or interviews. Is this enough? Can this really capture the essence of someone's history, struggle, victory? In most cases.. no. Does this mean that this sort of literature serves no purpose? No. Outsider literature can still educate and inform its readers, just not to the degree insider literature can.

I guess I support outsider literature/perspective, but I strongly feel there is great need for insider perspective in literature.

Like I said, there is so much to consider when discussing this topic. I can see why it is so controversial.

Stereotyping American Indians

The book we have been reading, "The Heart of a Chief", has revolved around an important issue- that issue being the use of Indian names for team mascots. I found a website article that discussed recent cases.

http://www.tolerance.org/news/article_tol.jsp?id=1269

I find it so interesting how many schools or teams used Indian terms/names for mascots. I knew that there were such situations that existed, but there were so many more cases that I expected. The insensitivity really surprised me.

I really liked this site because it showed the stereotypes of Indians presented by Hollywood. The video on this site showed how Indians were described as savages, bloodthirsty. Check out the youtube videos on this site. It is really interesting.

http://www.aistm.org/1indexpage.htm

This was one of the videos from that site. Check it out. I think you'll really enjoy it.