Found out most banned books are actually for kids, not adults

I was reading a report from PEN America about book bans in the 2023-2024 school year and it blew my mind. Something like 40% of the banned titles were picture books or middle grade novels, stuff like 'And Tango Makes Three' or 'The Day You Begin'. I always figured it was mostly young adult books getting targeted, but it turns out little kids' books get hit hard too. Has anyone else looked at the actual age range of the books being pulled?

2 comments

2 Comments

foster.jordan5d ago

Oh man, that stat about picture books really hits you hard doesn't it? I've been following the PEN reports too and @felix414, your question is spot on because from what I've seen it's both things happening at once. There are a handful of titles like 'And Tango Makes Three' and some of the Ruby Bridges books that get banned over and over again in different districts, but there are also hundreds of other kids books getting pulled for things like mentioning a character has two dads or even just having a main character who's a person of color. It's wild that a little board book for 3 year olds can end up on a restricted list just for talking about different kinds of families.

felix4145d ago

Most banned books are actually for kids" - that caught me off guard too when I first saw the stats. But it makes sense if you think about it, since parents and school boards are usually trying to protect the youngest readers from topics they consider too heavy or confusing. What I'm really wondering is how many of those picture books are getting banned for actual content versus just being tied to a specific author or series that got flagged by a group. Like, is it just a few hot button titles getting pulled over and over, or are we talking about hundreds of different kids' books getting the axe?