Banned Books Week: Picture Books | JCLS

Author

Herthel, Jessica

Notes

Regularly banned and challenged for LGBTQIA+ content.

Description

From the time she was two years old, Jazz knew that she had a girl's brain in a boy's body. She loved pink and dressing up as a mermaid and didn't feel like herself in boys' clothing. This confused her family, until they took her to a doctor who said that Jazz was transgender and that she was born that way.

2) And Tango makes three

Author

Richardson, Justin

Notes

Regularly banned and challenged for LGBTQIA+ content.

Formats:

Book, Book - Hardback, eAudiobook

Description

At New York City's Central Park Zoo, two male penguins fall in love and start a family by taking turns sitting on an abandoned egg until it hatches.

3) Prince & knight

Author

Notes

Challenged for LGBTQIA+ content.

Description

A prince and a knight in shining armor find true love in each other's embrace after fighting a dragon together.

4) Sex is a funny word

Author

Silverberg, Cory

Notes

Challenged and banned for LGBTQIA+ content and not being age appropriate.

Description

"A comic book for kids that includes children and families of all makeups, orientations, and gender identies, Sex Is a Funny Word is an essential resource about bodies, gender, and sexuality for children ages 8 to 10 as well as their parents and caregivers. Much more than the "facts of life" or "the birds and the bees," Sex Is a Funny Word opens up conversations between young people and their caregivers in a way that allows adults to convey their...

5) Something happened in our town: a child's story about racial injustice

Author

Celano, Marianne

Notes

Challenged for being too political.

Formats:

Book, eAudiobook

Description

After discussing the police shooting of a local Black man with their families, Emma and Josh know how to treat a new student who looks and speaks differently than his classmates.

6) A day in the life of Marlon Bundo

Author

Bundo, Marlon (Rabbit)

Notes

Challenged for LGBTQIA+ content and being anti-religion.

Formats:

Book, Book - Hardback

Description

"Meet Marlon Bundo, a lonely bunny who lives with his Grampa, Mike Pence - the Vice President of the United States. But on this Very Special Day, Marlon's life is about to change forever... With its message of tolerance and advocacy, this charming children's book explores issues of same-sex marriage and democracy. Sweet, funny, and beautifully illustrated, this book is dedicated to every bunny who has ever felt different"--Amazon.com.

7) Skippyjon Jones

Author

Schachner, Judy

Series

Skippyjon Jones

Notes

Challenged for harmful stereotypes.

Formats:

eAudiobook, eBook

Description

Here is the book that launched a thousand chimichangoes – the first in the best-selling series about the rambunctious Skippyjon Jones, the Siamese kitty boy with the overactive imagination. He would rather be El Skippito, the great sword fighter, who can do anything. Like saving a roving band of Mexican Chihuahuas from a humongous bumblebeeto that is tormenting them.
Join Skippyjon Jones on his first great adventure. He’s fearless,...

8) This day in June

Author

Pitman, Gayle E

Notes

Challenged for LGBTQIA+ content.

Formats:

Book, eBook, Kindle

Description

"A picture book illustrating a Pride parade. The endmatter serves as a primer on LGBT history and culture and explains the references made in the story"-- Provided by publisher.

9) Heather has two mommies

Author

Newman, Lesléa

Notes

Challenged for LGBTQIA+ content.

Formats:

Description

When Heather goes to playgroup, at first she feels bad because she has two mothers and no father, but then she learns that there are lots of different kinds of families and the most important thing is that all the people love each other.

10) The librarian of Basra: a true story from Iraq

Author

Winter, Jeanette

Notes

Challenged for violence and being pro-Muslim.

Formats:

Description

*ALA Notable Children's book 2006 * Celebrated author-illustrator Jeanette Winter weaves a hopeful tale of one woman's courageous book rescue. In the Spring of 2003, Alia Muhammad Baker was the city of Basra's real-life librarian. She was the keeper of cherished books and her library was a haven for community gatherings. But with war imminent in Basra, Iraq, what could this lone woman do to save her precious books? With lyrical, spare...

11) It's a book

Author

Notes

Challenged in school libraries for explicit language.

Description

Two readers compare a print to digital media, and learn books are still valuable.

12) in our mothers house

This entry no longer exists in the catalog

13) The dirty cowboy

Author

Timberlake, Amy

Notes

Banned or altered in libraries for showing partial nudity.

Description

Telling his faithful dog to make sure nobody touches his clothes but him, a cowboy jumps into a New Mexico river for a bath, not realizing just how much the scrubbing will change his scent.

14) My princess boy

Author

Kilodavis, Cheryl

Notes

Challenged in libraries for depicting nontraditional gender roles.

Description

Story of accepting a child as they are and loving and supporting them.

15) The Three Little Pigs

Author

Marshall, James

Notes

Challenged for violence.

Description

"The pig who invests in bricks, of course, does the gobbling when he encounters the wolf, after a merry mass of near misses that blithely build suspense. There are fairy tales, and there are Marshall's tales. [Audiences] can also be forgiven for preferring his over all the rest. —-Publishers Weekly

Think you know the story of the three little pigs? Not until you've experienced this version, retold by award-winning author-illustrator James...

16) Little Red Riding Hood

Author

Hyman, Trina Schart

Notes

This version of Little Red Riding Hood has been challenged for including a drawing of a bottle of wine in the little girl's basket.

Description

Today's young readers will truly be enchanted by this version of the Brothers Grimm classic, set in an American frontier. As she sets out to visit her grandmother's house deep in the woods, Little Red Riding Hood has no idea what is in store for her. She soon suspects that her basket of sweets isn't the only thing her new friend the wolf is after! With the help of a brave hunter and her grandmother, Little Red learns a valuable lesson about following...

17) Where the wild things are

Author

Sendak, Maurice

Notes

Banned across the US for child abuse, supernatural themes, and encouraging children to be disobedient.

Formats:

Book, Book - Hardback, eAudiobook

Description

When Max is sent to his room without supper for being wild, he travels to the land where the wild things are and becomes their king.

18) The giving tree

Author

Silverstein, Shel

Notes

Challenged at many libraries for being perceived as anti- logging industry.

Description

A young boy grows to manhood and old age experiencing the love and generosity of a tree which gives to him without thought of return.

19) In the night kitchen

Author

Sendak, Maurice

Notes

Banned or altered in many libraries due to nudity.

Formats:

Book, eAudiobook

Description

Mickey helps the bakers prepare morning cake during an unusual nocturnal excursion.

20) Sylvester and the magic pebble

Author

Notes

Challenged for depictions of police officers as pigs.

Formats:

Book, eAudiobook

Description

In a moment of fright, Sylvester the donkey asks his magic pebble to turn him into a rock but then can not hold the pebble to wish himself back to normal again.