To explore the topic of censorship, I intended to critically review a 2014 essay written by Alyson Miller called Unsuited to age group: the scandals of children’s literature. However, I found myself unable to write objectively on the subject, particularly in light of the recent events surrounding an attack on Brisbane Square Library’s Drag Queen Storytime (ABC, 2020). Instead, I chose to write a review on one of the books Miller mentions: And Tango Makes Three, written by Justin Richardson and Peter Parnell, and illustrated by Henry Cole (2005). This book introduces the subject of same-sex couples, rainbow families and adoption through the true story of two male penguins in New York City’s Central Park Zoo.
What I learned
Acceptance, tolerance, truth and honesty are values I try to practice in my own life, and to instil in my children. While researching the topics around both Miller’s essay and Richardson and Parnell’s book, I was unsurprised the learn that people use children’s literature as educational tools, to introduce ‘difficult’ topics, to reinforce or contravene societal norms (Miller, 2014, p. 136). What did surprise me was the very strong views people hold about the ‘appropriateness’ of children’s literature, and how strongly this is linked to heteronormativity (Wallace, 2018, p. 25).
Magnuson (2012) found that the most common objections to And Tango Makes Three centred around the rights of the parent to choose their child’s reading material, which was also the strongest argument for leaving the book uncensored. Concerns about the potential influence on children was the second most common, supporting Miller’s statement of the “transformative ability of literature and the symbolic potential of the child reader” (2014, p. 137).
Relevance to my work
Having been asked to remove a book from the shelves at my public library (Whatever by William Bee, on the grounds that the father is uncaring and negligent) and being unsure of what to do, I found reviewing a challenged book very useful. It made me investigate the reasons behind challenges, which helps inform decision making processes for the treatment of those challenges. And Tango Makes Three ticks three of Powell’s Books’ (2018) top five reasons why books are banned or challenged: sex, unsuitability to age group, and LGBTQIA content. To accommodate complaints while not removing the book entirely, libraries can re-shelve copies to less-used or restricted areas (Machlin, 2013). After a long debate, a couple of extremely graphic titles were relegated to the stack, to be enjoyed by people who particularly search them out. In the case of Whatever, the book ended up back on the shelf where it came from, with the picture books.
Knowledge gaps
This exercise highlighted a large gap in my knowledge, in that I was not aware that such a large number of books were consistently challenged, on such a range of topics. I was also not aware that many of the challenged books are children’s or young adult literature. To educate myself and other staff, I will propose that the library celebrates Banned Books Week with displays and reading challenges for all age groups.
References
ABC. (2020, January 13). Liberal National Club president Wilson Gavin dies after protesting against drag queens at Brisbane library. Retrieved from https://www.abc.net.au/news/2020-01-13/liberal-national-club-president-wilson-gavin-dies/11863096
Machlin, S. (2013, September 23). Banned Books Week: And Tango Makes Three. Retrieved from https://www.nypl.org/blog/2013/09/23/banned-books-week-and-tango-makes-three
Magnuson, M. L. (2012). Perceptions of self and the “other”: an analysis of challenges to And Tango Makes Three. School Library Research, 14.
Miller, A. (2014). Unsuited to age group: the scandals of children’s literature. College Literature, 41(2), 120-140. doi:10.1353/lit.2014.0025
Powell’s Books. (2018, September 10). The big five: why books are banned. Retrieved from https://www.powells.com/post/lists/the-big-five-why-books-are-banned
Richardson, J., Parnell, P., & Cole, H. (2005). And Tango makes three. New York: Simon and Schuster.
Wallace, K. (2018). Appropriate. Brock Education, 27(2), 23. doi:10.26522/brocked.v27i2.584