September 2007

Dear Fellow Book Lovers:

BANNED BOOKS AHOY! - TREASURE YOUR FREEDOM TO READ is the 2007 theme for Banned Books Week (September 29- October 6). I’m especially fond of this pirate theme because it lends itself to many types of library activities for all ages. Children love pirates, treasure chests, ships, and the ocean. They like the idea of discovering things, whether it is golden coins or special books. Here are a few programming ideas:

• Kick off Banned Books Week with an explanation about why this week is celebrated. Help young patrons and their parents understand the importance of protecting our individual freedom to choose, and freedom to express. This may be accomplished in a special program in the library, or on the library’s website.

 

• Introduce older readers to the importance of free expression in our society by asking them to read the following two books:

A Brief Chapter in My Impossible Life by Dana Reinhardt (Ages 12 up)

Evolution, Me & Other Freaks of Nature by Robin Brande (Ages 12 up)

Readers may wish to write reviews of these books for the school or library’s website. Ask for volunteers to gather websites about the Scopes Trial to connect to the Brande book, and websites for organizations like the ACLU (mentioned in the Reinhardt book) that fight to protect individual freedoms.

 

• Public and school libraries may collaborate to sponsor a creative writing competition called "Pirates and Censors: A Threat to Our Freedoms." How are pirates and censors similar? How do both threaten individual freedoms?

 

• Fill a treasure chest with books that have been challenged. This should be done for each age group that the library serves. Ask young readers to share the books in the chest that they have read and talk about how they would feel if pirates or censors attempted to steal the contents of their treasure chest. Random House offers the following treasures:

Aliens Are Coming! by Meghan McCarthy (Ages 4-8)

Anatomy of a Boyfriend by Daria Snadowsky (Ages 14)

Boy Meets Boy by David Levithan (Ages 12 up)

Bucking the Sarge by Christopher Paul Curtis (Ages 12 up)

Charlie and the Chocolate Factory by Roald Dahl; illustrated by Quentin Blake (Ages 8-12)

The Chocolate War by Robert Cormier (Ages 12 up)

The Dark-Thirty: Southern Tales of the Supernatural by Patricia McKissack; illustrated by Brian Pinkney (Ages 10 up)

The Egypt Game by Zilpha Keatley Snyder (Ages 10 up)

Eragon by Christopher Paolini (Ages 12 up)

Flush by Carl Hiaasen (Ages 10 up)

The Giver by Lois Lowry (Ages 12 up)

How I Live Now by Meg Rosoff (Ages 12 up)

The Junie B. Jones series by Barbara Park; illustrated by Denise Brunkus (Ages 7-10)

Harriet the Spy by Louise Fitzhugh (Ages 10 up)
Killing Mr. Griffin by Lois Duncan (Ages 12 up)

Nappy Hair by Carolivia Herron; illustrated by Joe Cepeda (Ages 5-8)

On My Honor by Marion Dane Bauer (Ages 9-12)

Skellig by David Almond (Ages 10 up)

Shades of Simon Gray by Joyce McDonald (Ages 12 up)

Small Steps by Louis Sachar (Ages 10 up)

Stargirl by Jerry Spinelli (Ages 10 up)

Tar Beach by Faith Ringgold by Faith Ringgold (Ages 4-8)

The Watsons Go to Birmingham - 1963 by Christopher Paul Curtis (Ages 10 up)

The Witch of Blackbird Pond by Elizabeth George Speare (Ages 10 up)

 

• Inform older readers about the many attempts in this nation to censor Philip Pullman’s His Dark Materials trilogy. Ask them to read The Golden Compass before seeing the movie when it is released later in the year. Have them write a letter to the editor of the local newspaper about respecting individual rights to read and to view.

• Finally, ask all readers to select a book they would most want a pirate or a censor to read. Have them explain their choice.

 

You may email me at pscales@bellsouth.net.