The Giving Tree and other threats.

 

Jodi, of Circulation fame, is here with her Banned Books selection, The Giving Tree.  Author Shell Silverstein is many children's first introduction to poetry, particularly with his Where the Sidewalk Ends.  Why challenge The Giving Tree? 

The controversy over The Giving Tree is mostly due to debate over its interpretation. Was the tree selfless or self-sacrificing? Was the boy selfish or reasonable in his demands of the tree?
Some psychologists claim the book portrays a “vicious, one-sided relationship” between the tree and the boy; with the tree as the selfless giver, and the boy as the greedy person who takes but never gives. [citation]

Library Director Joanna reads Judy Blume's Are You There, God? It's Me, Margaret.  Judy Blume is among the 10 most-challenged authors of 2010, as well as each consecutive year between 2001 to 2006.  Many of her books appeared on the 100 Most Frequently Challenged Books: 1990-1999, including Forever, Blubber, Deenie, Tiger Eyes, and, at number 60 on the list, Are You There, God? It's Me, Margaret.  All these books except Deenie also appeared on the 100 Most Frequently Challenged Books: 2000-2009.

It's not surprising that so many of Judy Blume's books are challenged: she writes for young readers, and she addresses topics and problems that children and teens face in their lives:

Despite vast praise and popularity, Blume has received harsh criticism for addressing subject matters such as sex, masturbation, menstruation, death, puberty and religion in her youth novels. ...The themes in these novels, like many other of Blume’s less controversial books, speak to perhaps an even greater issue for adolescents and teens than sex and puberty: fitting in.  Blume’s characters grapple with questions like: Am I normal?  Is anyone else going through what I am?  What do I make of all this?  These questions pertain not only to sex and puberty, but simply to getting through each day and making sense of growing up. [citation]

Where the Wild Things Are by Maurice Sendak, read here by Youth Services Librarian Kathleen, is a Caldecott Medal-winning book (1964) that has been "primarily banned in most southern states immediately following its publication, and it has since been challenged due to the fact that it promotes 'witchcraft and supernatural events'.” [citation] 

Maurice Sendak was among the most frequently challenged authors of 2004; along with Where the Wild Things Are, he is also frequently challenged for his work In the Night Kitchen.
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