I'll try to get back to my regular blogging soon. Things have been very crazy here - people in the hospital, out of town business trips etc. etc. etc. Anyway, I just wanted to quickly pop in and tell everyone that I just couldn't let that whole "The Dirty Cowboy" thing go. I'm like a dog with a bone sometimes.
Anyway, my daughter and I checked the book out from our local library (big thanks to our library for not believing in censorship) and we really liked it. It's super cute and the illustrations were incredibly well done. I decided to take my rant one step further and started a petition on Change.org. If you would like to sign the petition and tell the Annville, PA school board you disagree with their decision, you may do so HERE.
Now, I promise my next post will be crafty in nature . . . scouts honor!
Sunday, May 27, 2012
Wednesday, May 2, 2012
I Try to Contain My Rantings . . .
Really I do, but I have a lot of things to rant about - to the point that I decided to start a completely separate blog about my rants (but now I can't remember the passwords LOL - oh the life of a sleep deprived mother). The reason I try to control my rants here is because I wanted this blog to be about crafts, family, fun stuff and the like - not political or boiling point subjects. This, however, I feel needs to be addressed.
Let me start by saying we love books in our house. It has been a favorite pastime of my 3 year old from the day she was born. In fact, the first thing I bought for her when I found out I was pregnant was a collection of Disney stories in book form. We attend a public story time at our local library every week and we read a minimum of 2 book every day. We love books. Apparently some people in Annville, PA don't have quite the same love of books that we do. They have actually BANNED a children's book from their library! Seriously! BANNED a book - am I high? Since when do we BAN books? It is by far the most ludicrous thing I have ever heard. Want to know about the BANNED book? Here is the book they found so incredibly offensive that they had to BAN it (I'm capitalizing because I am seriously that ticked off about the whole thing - to me this is as ignorant as suddenly re-installing separate water fountains for whites and blacks - it is that completely ignorant), here it is:
This book, The Dirty Cowboy by Amy Timberlake and Illustrated by Adam Rex is the book the folks in Annville, PA had to protect their children from. I learned about this issue from a blog I follow called "Dulemba" written by Elizabeth O. Dulemba who is also an author and illustrator. She posted about this controversy today on this blog post and here is what she had to say:
"I recently learned of a case of outrageous censorship occurring in Lebanon, Pennsylvania (Dulemba mentions Lebanon, Pennsylvania but it is Lebanon County and actually Annville, PA). THE DIRTY COWBOY, written by Amy Timberlake and illustrated by Adam Rex, has been pulled from the school library shelves because TWO parents complained about it. The school board then banned it in an 8 to 0 vote. They called the book a gateway to pornography. Ummmm...
The book is about a cowboy who needs a bath. The official description is:
So, to the people in Annville, PA who voted to BAN this book, SHAME SHAME SHAME on you! Your actions are truly appalling and the most ignorant thing I have seen in quite sometime. You should absolutely be ashamed of yourselves for being so backwards in your thinking.
So, what will I be doing about this? Well, as I wrote this blog post my 3 year old walked up and asked what those pictures were of. I told her it was a book that some people in another state decided their children could not read and they made it impossible for other children in their area to be able to read it. She then asked me if I would read it to her. My reply? ABSOLUTELY! So I will be checking to see if our library has this book and if they don't, I will be buying a copy and donating it because all children should have access to books and if you don't want your child reading a certain book that is your right as a parent to control what they read but you do not have the right to tell me and my child what we can and cannot read!
If you are interested, I encourage you to share this story any way you can (Facebook, Twitter, Blogging etc) and check out this book from your local library or purchase a copy for yourself. Decide for yourself if this book was worth banning.
Oh, and just as a side note, I am the proud owner of another formerly banned book, Catcher in the Rye by J.D. Salinger. I've read it several times and when my daughter is old enough, she'll have the chance to read it too if she wants!
Let me start by saying we love books in our house. It has been a favorite pastime of my 3 year old from the day she was born. In fact, the first thing I bought for her when I found out I was pregnant was a collection of Disney stories in book form. We attend a public story time at our local library every week and we read a minimum of 2 book every day. We love books. Apparently some people in Annville, PA don't have quite the same love of books that we do. They have actually BANNED a children's book from their library! Seriously! BANNED a book - am I high? Since when do we BAN books? It is by far the most ludicrous thing I have ever heard. Want to know about the BANNED book? Here is the book they found so incredibly offensive that they had to BAN it (I'm capitalizing because I am seriously that ticked off about the whole thing - to me this is as ignorant as suddenly re-installing separate water fountains for whites and blacks - it is that completely ignorant), here it is:
"I recently learned of a case of outrageous censorship occurring in Lebanon, Pennsylvania (Dulemba mentions Lebanon, Pennsylvania but it is Lebanon County and actually Annville, PA). THE DIRTY COWBOY, written by Amy Timberlake and illustrated by Adam Rex, has been pulled from the school library shelves because TWO parents complained about it. The school board then banned it in an 8 to 0 vote. They called the book a gateway to pornography. Ummmm...
The book is about a cowboy who needs a bath. The official description is:
"After he finds a tumbleweed in his chaps and the numerous bugs buzzing around him affect his hearing, the cowboy decides it’s time to head to the river. Once there, he peels off all his clothes and tells his trusty old dog to guard them against strangers. He takes a refreshing bath and emerges clean as corn – but so fresh-smelling that his dog doesn’t recognize him! Negotiations over the return of the clothes prove fruitless. A wrestling match ensues in a tale that grows taller by the sentence, climaxing in a fabric-speckled dust devil."Just to be clear - there is NO unacceptable nudity in the book. Adam cleverly concealed anything that anybody might find offensive. In fact, that's part of the fun of the book - how creative he got with hiding the cowboy's nakedness. Many a Norman Rockwell magazine cover showed more nudity than this book does!"
So, to the people in Annville, PA who voted to BAN this book, SHAME SHAME SHAME on you! Your actions are truly appalling and the most ignorant thing I have seen in quite sometime. You should absolutely be ashamed of yourselves for being so backwards in your thinking.
So, what will I be doing about this? Well, as I wrote this blog post my 3 year old walked up and asked what those pictures were of. I told her it was a book that some people in another state decided their children could not read and they made it impossible for other children in their area to be able to read it. She then asked me if I would read it to her. My reply? ABSOLUTELY! So I will be checking to see if our library has this book and if they don't, I will be buying a copy and donating it because all children should have access to books and if you don't want your child reading a certain book that is your right as a parent to control what they read but you do not have the right to tell me and my child what we can and cannot read!
If you are interested, I encourage you to share this story any way you can (Facebook, Twitter, Blogging etc) and check out this book from your local library or purchase a copy for yourself. Decide for yourself if this book was worth banning.
Oh, and just as a side note, I am the proud owner of another formerly banned book, Catcher in the Rye by J.D. Salinger. I've read it several times and when my daughter is old enough, she'll have the chance to read it too if she wants!
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)