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EDC-243: Children's Literature

Research guide for Children's Literature

Lois Lowry on Banning Books

Lois Lowry’s response to a young reader who explains that a parent at their school wants to ban The Giver:

“I think banning books is a very, very dangerous thing. It takes away an important freedom. Any time there is an attempt to ban a book, you should fight it as hard as you can. It’s okay for a parent to say, ‘I don’t want my child to read this book.’ But it is not okay for anyone to try to make that decision for other people. The world portrayed in The Giver is a world where choice has been taken away. It is a frightening world. Let’s work hard to keep it from truly happening.”

Controversial Picture Books

Click here for a list of challenged children's books.

Controversial Young Adult Books