Wednesday night's Banned Books Week Bedtime Selection was And Tango Makes Three by Peter Parnell and Justin Richardson and illustrated by Henry Cole.

It tells the true story of 2 male penguins, Roy and Silo, who displayed homosexual behavior and were given an egg to care for by their zookeepers at the Central Park Zoo. It’s not hard to guess why this book topped this list of most challenged books every year from 2006 – 2010, except 2009 when it came in second.

The dreaded homosexual agenda…

As expected, a number of concerned parents rushed to have access to this book restricted for fear that it would instill a sense of tolerance and empathy in their still impressionable youths.

Most libraries did not concede and kept the book in regular circulation, but it of course became a lightning rod debate topic for both sides of gay rights debate.

Here’s the thing. In case you haven’t noticed, gay people are everywhere.

And they are to stay. How’s that old saying go?

Get used to it.

Accept the fact that your kids are going to see gay people everywhere.

They are at restaurants. They are at the movies. They are at school. They are walking their dog past your house. And some of them are going to even have families whether you like it or not.

There are opportunities everywhere for you kids to ask you what you may perceive as an awkward question. So why not tackle the issue head on?

While we were reading it, my daughter Olivia did ask "But, where's the mommy?"

Rather than sidestep the issue, my wife and and I explained to her that even though she has a mommy and daddy, some people have 2 daddies, or 2 mommies. And that others only have a mommy, or a daddy and every combination in between. She took a minute to think about it and then said "Just like Kelly's mommy and daddy don't live together?" referring to her older cousin who's parents are not together. We didn't stress the point that some people are gay, but rather that everyone's family is different.

Even if acceptance isn't your thing, you could always use this book to help your kids spot homosexuals so they can avoid them if you want. Because, that's your right whether I like it or not.

Everyone should look at this book as a teaching tool, even if what you’re teaching is in intolerance.

Banned Books Week
Celebrating the Freedom to Read: 09/27-10/03/15
http://www.bannedbooksweek.org

Last night’s Banned Books Week Bedtime selection has been a favorite in our house since my daughter Olivia was a baby. In fact, if you did the math I would bet that it would be high on the list, if not topping it, of the most repeatedly read books in our home.  It’s so special to us, that when my second daughter Claire came home from the hospital a few weeks ago, it was one of the first books that big sister Olivia instinctively chose to “read” to her  to introduce Claire to our sacred family tradition.

I put “read” in quotation marks, because Olivia is three years old.  And while she loves books, and can recognize letters, and maybe an occasional word, she cannot technically read.  She’ll get there eventually, but in the mean time she loves to be read to, or to sit by herself immersed in the illustrations of her favorite picture books.

But Brown Bear, Brown Bear, What Do you See? with its focus on colors, animals, and most importantly it’s simple and repetitive prose, was the first book that Oliva was able to memorize and recite front to back after repeated readings. And as a result, it was the first book she was able to “read” all by herself, and the first to give her that special feeling of satisfaction one gets after finishing a good book.

​Even though we don’t read it as much as we used to since Olivia has moved onto to more complex stories, it was nice to revisit our old friend Brown Bear again last night.  Especially for me, since it granted a rare reprieve from having to do all the heavy lifting of the actual reading myself. And Olivia even found something new to relate to this time around with the appearance of the teacher near the end of the book.  “I have a teacher now too!” she told me excitedly referring to the fact that she herself recently started  going to school for the first time.

As a cherished family favorite, you can imagine my surprise when I came across this title while reviewing a list of banned children’s books. It simply couldn’t be. I mean, it’s literally just about differently colored animals looking at each other. How could that possibly offend anyone? Did I miss the part of the book where Brown Bear goes into feeding frenzy and violently devours the other animals before setting his sights on the children and their teacher? Was their some hidden sexual innuendo between Purple Cat and Blue Horse that I had somehow missed over the course of countless readings?

I’m happy to report that it was neither of the above.

Although the real reason is somehow even more disturbing…

​It turns out that the reason the Texas Board Education Board saw fit to ban Brown Bear, Brown Bear, What Do You See? was the fear that it would spread Marxist ideas.

Say what now?

That's right.

According to a 2010 Huffington Post article, Brown Bear was banned from public schools in Texas because the Education Board confused its author, Bill Martin Jr. with Bill Martin, a college professor and author of the book Ethical Marxism: Ethical Marxism: The Categorical Imperative of Liberation. But keep in mind, this was not just a blanket banning of all “Bill Martin” books. Brown Bear was evaluated individually, and it was determined that it should be banned because the author’s adult work contained "very strong critiques of capitalism and the American system."

This confusion was eventually sorted out and Brown Bear returned to school library shelves all across Texas where it remains to this day, but this story does raise an important question about book banning and intellectual freedom. 

Even if beloved children’s author Bill Martin Jr. was a card carrying member of the communist party, how does that make the book Brown Bear, Brown Bear What Do You See? inappropriate for children?

I can see the logic of not shelving Ethical Marxism: Ethical Marxism: The Categorical Imperative of Liberation in grade school libraries based on reading level alone. I’m 38 and I struggled to comprehend a general synopsis of the book without getting lost in philosophical jargon. But how anyone could read Brown Bear and infer any kind of hidden agenda other than teaching kids to recognize animals and colors is beyond me.  It is literally one of the most simplistic books ever written.

Despite this fact, a group of educated adults whose job it is to facilitate education, had a meeting, discussed the content of this book, and decided that it should be banned based purely on a reaction to communist paranoia.  And let me remind you that this happened in 2010, not during the Red Scare of the 1940's and '50's. Or even the Cold War of the 1980's...

This kind of dangerous thinking is exactly what makes Banned Books Week still so relevant today. There are a lot of scared people out there making irrational decisions that infringe not only on our intellectual freedom, but on our children’s as well.

​ If knowledge is power, then we must stay vigilant to ensure that we  have access to the knowledge and ideas contained within the pages of books.

Even if that knowledge is just learning to recognize colors and animals….

Banned Books Week
​Celebrating the freedom to read: September 27th to October 3rd, 2015
For more information: http://www.bannedbooksweek.org

In honor of Banned Books Week, every night this week, my daughter Olivia (age 3) and I are going to celebrate our intellectual freedom by reading a frequently banned or challenged book at bedtime to see if we can get to the bottom of what all the fuss is about. 

Our first selection was In the Night Kitchen by Maurice Sendak.

It ranked 25th place on the "100 Most Frequently Challenged Books of 1990-2000" list compiled by the American Library Association primarily because of it's depiction of the protagonist, a toddler named Mickey, in the nude.

Over the years some librarians took it upon themselves to paint a diaper on Mickey, while others felt burning the book itself was a more effective form of censorship.

The book, a 1971 Caldecott recipient, is a beautifully illustrated fantasy that is perfect for ushering your little ones off into dreamland. Inspired by the Little Nemo comic strips of the early 20th Century and Sendak's fascination with Disney and Mickey Mouse in particular, the format is similar to that of a comic book, using sequential art and speech balloons to tell the story of Mickey's dreamy adventures in the Night Kitchen.

​So the question is, is this book appropriate for children? 

Absolutely.

Anyone too uptight to share this book with their child based on mild nudity is depriving them of the experience of  a truly wonderful work of art. My daughter thought it was "a really great book" and she was fascinated by the vibrant illustrations that jumped off the page and drew her into the magical world of Mickey's imagination.

You can watch animator Gene Deitch's faithful 1987 adaptation here:

Yes, Mickey is shown naked, including (GASP!) his penis, but his anatomy is depicted tastefully and discreetly. In fact, while reading the book last night, Olivia did not even seem to notice it. And even if she had, it would have been an opportunity for us to discuss the difference between girls and boys, not something to be embarrassed about or shy away from.  

Some extremists have even suggested that the milky white imagery and so-called "phallic" milk jug represent a manifestation of Sendak's homosexuality. But in my opinion, there is nothing inherently sexual here, and any adults who perceive such overtones are certainly projecting them on it themselves. 

And as far as a young child's interpretation of the book, who can relate to the fun of running around naked more than a toddler? My daughter is three and she thinks being naked is hysterical.

In fact she's probably at home doing "The Naked Dance" right now. 

Banned Books Week
​Celebrating the freedom to read: September 27th to October 3rd, 2015
For more information: http://www.bannedbooksweek.org