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Banned and Challenged Picture Books: Multcolib Assignments

A selection of picture books that have been banned or challenged A custom book list created by Multnomah County librarians. Are you a teacher that lives or works in Multnomah County? Need a custom booklist? https://multcolib.org/assignment-alert (Jackie P.)

User from Multnomah County Library

25 items

  • Banned by 2 California school districts in 1990 “saying the presence of a bottle of wine in the young girl’s basket condoned the use of alcohol.”
    Book, 1983New York : Holiday House, [1983] — j 398.2 H996L
  • Challenged in the Laytonville (CA) Unified School District because the book "criminalizes the foresting industry"
    Book, 1999New York : Random House, [1999] — jE SEUSS
  • Challenged because of its “homosexual story line that has been sugarcoated with cute penguins."
    Book, 2015New York : Little Simon, 2015. — jbb 2015
  • Challenged in a Canadian public library because of witchcraft/supernatural elements.
    Book, 1963[New York] : Harper & Row, [1963] — jE SENDAK
  • Challenged in Florida by parents who wanted the book (and others) removed from the curriculum because they “are inappropriate for students because they promote another religion besides Christianity and are too violent for young children.”
    Book, 2005New York, New York : Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, [2005] — j 020.92 B167w 2005
  • The Illinois Police Association wrote to librarians asking them to remove the book because its characters, all shown as animals, present police as pigs.
    Book, 2005New York : Simon and Schuster Books for Young Readers, [2005] — jE STEIG 2005
  • A patron at Multnomah County Library objected to the values and political viewpoint of the book – they felt it promoted war.
    Book, 2005New York : Margaret K. McElderry Books, ©2005. — j Facts 355 D372a 2005
  • A Moms for Liberty leader called nude drawings of Mickey “harmful to minors.”
    Book, 1998[New York] : HarperCollins Publishers, [1998] — jE SENDAK
  • Challenged because it showed negative behavior which was rewarded by the parent
    Book, 1998New York : Blue Sky Press, [1998] — jE SHANNON
  • Banned in some schools because it describes various types of families, including a line that states, "some families have two moms or two dads."
    Book, 2003New York : Little, Brown and Company, [2003] — jE Parenting PARR
  • Challenged by parents who were concerned about whether a book the publisher tags under "gender identity" is appropriate for 2nd graders
    Book, 2018Somerville, Massachusetts : Candlewick Press, 2018. — jE LOVE 2018
  • Challengers claimed the picture book was “mature” or “sexually explicit.”
    Book, 2019New York : Lee & Low Books Inc., [2019] — jE LUKOFF 2019
  • Deemed "unsuited for age group" due to its depiction of incarceration and an illustration of a same-sex couple getting married
    Book, 2021New York : G.P. Putnam's Sons, [2021] — jE DELAPENA 2021
  • Challenged because it portrays a family with two dads
    Book, 2021San Francisco : Chronicle Books, [2021] — jE MCGINTY 2021
  • Banned due to the fear of promoting misinformation about where babies come from
    Book, 2014New York, NY : Nancy Paulsen Books, an imprint of Penguin Group (USA), [2014] — jE Parenting BLACKALL 2014
  • Challenged because of a parent’s objection to a collage picture of a naked man and woman representing Adam and Eve
    Book, 1992New York : Philomel Books, 1992. — jE CARLE
  • Patrons complained to the Toronto Public Library that the book "encourages children to use violence against their fathers."
    Book, 1963New York : Beginner Books, a division of Random House, [1963] — Blue Reader SEUSS
  • Challenged by a parent who complained that it didn't represent a "normal" way of life
    Book, 2014Toronto ; Berkeley : Groundwood Books, House of Anansi Press, 2014. — jE BALDACCHI 2014
  • Challenged and restricted for featuring a gay marriage and LGBTQIA content
    Book, 2018New York, NY : Little Bee Books, [2018] — jE HAACK 2018