Post for librarians & other animals

[bunn]

This story in Neil Gaiman's blog made me chortle, and then go kind of bug-eyed.  It's about censorship prudery in the selection of childrens literature.

Comments

[ladyofastolat.livejournal.com]

It is excessive prudery. However, it also reflects how the Irate Parents think. Irate Parents tend to explode into fury about the presence of single words, rather than about themes and content, because to complain about the latter actually requires reading the book. I've received furious complaints about The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe ("because it has a witch in it" so is clearly anti-Christian) and The Subtle Knife ("because it has a knife in it" so clearly promotes violence.) The complaints that I'm aware of in local schools are the same.

[wellinghall.livejournal.com]

I once got told we shouldn't be selling The Lord of the Rings, because the edition displayed had "a witch on the cover" and would therefore corrupt anyone who looked at it.

- Creatrix.