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Unread 04-04-2021, 04:25 PM
Martin Elster Martin Elster is offline
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Location: Connecticut, USA
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Originally Posted by Julie Steiner View Post
I think Theodor Geisel is a useful role model for imperfect people (the only kind that exists) because he, too, was visibly imperfect. He kept trying to use his talents to the best of his ability to make a positive difference in the world, and that ability changed for the better over time. Martin, of Seuss's story books, I think you would particularly like the environmental parable of Dr. Seuss's The Lorax, and also Horton Hears a Who!, in which a compassionate elephant goes to great lengths to save a microscopic community facing grave existential threats because he can't convince his neighbors that it even exists, because only his ears are sensitive enough to hear it. But many of Seuss's books are playful early readers that are more about discovering the joy of language than anything else.

I am strongly opposed to book banning that is intended to restrict adult access to controversial materials. Adults should be able to access any book they want--Mein Kampf included--so that they can see what all the fuss is about firsthand and make their own judgments. (Yes, even if those judgments are not in accord with mine.)

That said, I also think adults should be made aware that certain books are controversial, and they should be given the opportunity to examine those books for themselves before deciding whether or not their own children (but not the whole community's children!) should be given or denied access to them. My own public library publishes lists of banned books for children and young adults, which I used to use to identify books that might generate interesting conversations with my young daughters.

I notice that some of the same conservatives now publicly decrying the "censorship of Dr. Seuss" have previously campaigned to get other books banned from public libraries--e.g., Daddy's Roommate, Heather Has Two Mommies, and anything glorifying witchcraft. Which makes me think that their problem is not with censorship and book-banning per se, but with whether their own team or the opposing one seems to be "winning" at it.
Thanks, Julie, for suggesting those storybooks. I'll check them out. I, too, am against banning books. And I agree that parents should be allowed to examine whatever books they may or may not choose to show to their children.

Censorship is bad. Trying to "win" some ideological battle is not a healthy way to live in society.
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