Re: GEN: censored book

["Karen G. Schneider" <kschneid@UMICH.EDU>]

Two weeks ago the lection in the Episcopal church had to do with this bad
man who went to Hell because he ignored a pauper. It was about as graphic
as can be.  The rich man begs for mercy, but noooo--his little body goes
off to be eternal Crispy Critters.  Some of the well-off folks in my church
were clearly uncomfortable with this message (a good sign, imho).  Tell
your principal not to worry--it could be worse; you could be reading the
Bible to these kids!

If you are really worried about a challenge to a book or other media, be
sure to contact the Office of Intellectual Freedom at ALA.  They may be
able to help.  Meanwhile, most fairytales are violent; most literature is
violent.  Even Middlemarch has a few deaths.  As for Tailypo, I never read
it to kids, but these parents would probably object to the reading and
flannelboard I did for a book about nice witches.  (you know, pagan
stuff...)  And what about the Charlie Chaplin films I showed in the local
school library, full of violence, vomiting and flatulence?   Hey--kids know
life is not a Precious Moments figurine.

It might be worth your while to send out a few feelers and figure out what
the parents really want (i.e., is this a control issue about who decides
what gets read?).

------------------------------------------------------------------
Karen G. Schneider * kschneid@umich.edu *http://www.sils.umich.edu/~kschneid
Cybrarian * PhD Student, UM SILS * Columnist, American Libraries
Forthcoming: The Internet Access Cookbook (Neal Schuman, order fax
800-584-2414 or e-mail Neal-Schuman@icm.com). ISBN 1-55570-235-X.  *
Opinions mine alone.