I thought it was appropriate to wear a book-themed Tie o’ the Day—and my book-y Face Mask o’ the Day to add extra emphasis to this post. When I began writing about the banning of books from public and school libraries last evening, I was struck with a case of the opposite of writer’s block: the post I began writing kept getting longer and longer, and it’s still flowing through my pen this afternoon. Rather than offer my thoughts in one bigly post, it’s clear I’m going to have to chop up what I’m writing into a handful of posts, over the next few days starting Monday.
So today I offer you this one small section of my thinking. I have noticed in the recent blathering of a few very small-but-loud groups, books about the LGBTQ experience and books written by LGBTQ authors are a main target for removal from public/school libraries. (On Monday, I’ll explain in a more personal post why that’s a literal death sentence for LGBTQ kids.) But for right now, for those of you who might think books by LGBTQ authors and illustrators are pornographic just because of who wrote them or the subject matter, I am assigning you to purify your home library. If you have children’s books in your home, you definitely want to start in your own back yard—so to speak—to get rid of any children’s book written by the following LGBTQ authors: Margaret Wise Brown (The Runaway Bunny, Goodnight Moon); Ian Falconer (a number of the Eloise books); James Howe (the Bunnicula series); Ann M. Martin (the Babysitters Club books); James Marshall (the George And Martha series, as well as Miss Nelson Is Missing); Arnold Lobel (the Frog and Toad books); Maurice Sendak (Where the Wild Things Are); and Louise Fitzhugh (Harriet the Spy). Hilary Knight illustrated Kay Thompson’s Eloise books, and the Miss Piggle Wiggle series). For an older child, you’ll also need to ban Louisa May Alcott’s Little Women. She was not straight. And trust me—this list of LGBTQ authors of children’s books is just a small selection, off the top of my head.
Of course, I need to be clear. I made that assignment to book banners facetiously. The assignment is ridiculous. These books are staples of children’s early years. They belong wherever children are. But they have also been created by people who book banners think don’t deserve to have their work end up residing in public/school libraries. Those who would ban books would rather pretend LGBTQ people don’t exist, than learn about their stories and the struggles they face. The book banners would rather stay in their fear of what they don’t know than understand their fellow human beings who aren’t cookie cutter versions of themselves.
Today, as a preface to the next few TIE O’ THE DAY posts, I leave you with this CAUTION about reading. Reading books that aren’t about people exactly like you, might lead you to understand that those people are every bit as human and precious as you are. Just like they are precious to God. If you read about others, you might gain a rare thing called empathy. You might learn to let go of your fear— which is where hate comes from. You might enlarge your soul. And, like the Grinch, your heart might grow 3 sizes in one day. 📚