The Boy Who Lost His Face...Banned?!

(Graphic retrieved from eaterofbooks.blogspot.com)

The Boy Who Lost His Face 

 By Louis Sachar 

Grade level 4th - 6th 

(Graphic retrieved from http://libr267blog.blogspot.com/2009/02/holes.html)

         Research says The Boy Who Lost His Face was challenged in 1993 in the Jackson Township Elementary School in Clay City, Indiana due to unsuitable words, and was also challenged at the Golden View Elementary School in San Ramon, California that same year because of its profanity, frequent use of obscene gestures, and other inappropriate subject matter. In fact, the book was removed from Cuyler Elementary School in Red Creek, New York in 1993 because the age level and use of some swear words may make it inappropriate to younger children. (Bodart, J. 2009)

          They think this old lady is a witch because she's eccentric, but she's not. So, I feel like it isn't the greatest reason to challenge it in that aspect. However, I was surprised at the amount of language. The "s-word" is used frequently among others not as strong. This is targeted to 4th-6th grade, so it might be a little bit too much for the 4th graders. It did have some redeeming qualities though - the good guy gets the girl, nice guys persevere, etc. I would be fine with it being in a middle school library, but not so much in a 4th grade classroom.

         I do believe that this book would be good to use in an older classroom teaching the children about bullying and what to do if you are being bullied. We have all been through situations that make us think twice if we should do an activity that we know is wrong, but being peer pressured into doing it. You can create a discussion activity with the class, such as what would you do if you saw someone getting bullied? Have you been bullied? This would be a great book that is interesting to read during Bully Prevention/Awareness Month.

(Graphic retrieved from  gsnypenn.wordpress.com)

 This could be used during a health lesson that is about mental and physical well being in the course content. This is such a important subject to talk about with kids, especially in these grade levels; I have found that bullying seems to increase in middle school. Instead of letting the students read the book, the teacher can read it to them so that they can avoid the inappropriate language. There are so many lessons that you could create that involves bully prevention and I think that this book would be a great one to use because the boy is very relatable and the situations he gets in happen to a lot of children. I found this website that I thought would be great to utilize within a classroom or even the whole school, each week the kids are to do something that they normally don't do, like make friends with someone you don't know at school; http://www.stompoutbullying.org/index.php/campaigns/national-bullying-prevention-awareness-month/. 

Issue and Trend Interview with P.J.

        As an educator we want to make sure that we select the best books for our classroom library and knowing what to look for will help a lot. Something that we can look at while checking out books for the classroom would be the current issues and trends that are happening now. To learn more about the current issues and trends I interviewed P.J. a former librarian and now Special Education teacher.      

        P.J. is a retired librarian but is now working in the Special Education Department at the same school. She worked as a librarian for more than 20 years and loved every bit of it. The school is a small elementary school that has a decent sized library that has a great little area for the students to come sit down and have library time.

Me: What are some of the major trends that you’ve noticed in children’s literature since you became a librarian?

      P.J: I have seen more comic formatted books and more TV and movie related characters in the most popular books being read.

Me: Do you think this has to do more with pop culture and movies being made from these books or more like they're revisiting books from their own childhood?

P.J: I believe it has to do with pop culture and any way there is to make a dollar.

Me: Since the time when you first started reading, what trends have you seen as a reader in general?

P.J: The trend I think stands out most is that of     fantasy:  morphing, vampires, zombies, magic, etc.

Me: Do you think children are more drawn to a book based on a cover or the brief synopsis of the book?

P.J: They are more drawn to the picture.  In our library we had a 20 year old book with an old picture of a boy and girl just standing together; it was re-released with a new picture on the cover with the boy standing half in front and half to the side of the girl with one arm resting against the wall above her shoulders.  The students chose the new version without even reading the synopsis.  I really have not seen a student read the synopsis, mostly they check out books they have heard about from their friends.

Me:What have you see as the biggest issues?

P.J: I think the biggest issue is trying to get students to read the older classic books.  They have no interest in them at all.

Me: As our society has become more reliant on electronic media and many books have moved to electronic formats, what are your thoughts on libraries in general?

P.J: I think book libraries will be around for several years to come, the electronic books haven't taken over yet.

Me: Do you think that children are more receptive to actual books or electronic books?

P.J: The actual book is still more popular than electronic books, not every household has an e-reader.

Me: What are the most common themes that you see in books today?

P.J: The same as stated in question #3.

Me: Do you find that children are reading more books today than years past?

P.J: No, I don't believe that children are reading more books than in the past.  The video games have taken control of our children.

Me: Is there a difference between the books children are selecting and the ones teachers are utilizing for lessons in the classroom or having students read at home?

P.J: There is a big difference in what teachers choose to use in the classroom.  They check out books that follow a theme in the reading curriculum.  I haven't seen a curriculum that is based on fantasy and dating.   

Thank you to P.J. for taking the time to answer my questions and talking with me. 

       Scholastic is perhaps the best known publisher of children's and young adult literature. In 2010, Scholastic experts issued a list of what they called the "Ten Trends in Children's Books from 2010" (Reed, 2010). This list was, as the article states, "compiled by editors from Scholastic...experts from Scholastic Book Clubs and Scholastic Book Fairs, [and] divisions of Scholastic that distribute books from all publishers through schools nationwide" (Reed, 2010). When discussing with P.J. about the books that the children are interested in she mentioned the certain sub-genres that were mentioned by this article, in 2010 fantasy novels with vampires as central characters and forbidden and paranormal love as central themes.


      A class member discussed how some books seem like they are inappropriate by the titles that they are released with but once she read it to her kids she found that even though it was a farting dog getting a point across it was still meaningful to her children.  I think that is an interesting choice of the authors to use a farting dog to get the message across as well. I do think though that if we take the perspective in children's' eyes, they seem to go for more appealing illustrations to them and if you think about it, to them it looks funny and interesting and appealing to them; even though to us it looks inappropriate. Just like Captain Underpants, although these books are really great, the depictions of a little boy in underpants is something we as adults turn away from. I think that there are a lot of books that look and seem inappropriate but really aren't, they are made to be more appealing for the children to pick up and read. I do think that we should read the books before letting the children read them, if we feel they might be inappropriate first.


Although, it does help establish a lack of diversity in children's and young adult's literature. According to the ALA's report, the Office of Intellectual Freedom "has been tracking an increasing number of challenges to diverse titles," and defines this as including the following:

• Non-white main and/or secondary characters

• LGBT main and/or secondary characters

• Disabled main and/or secondary characters

• Issues about race or racism

• LGBT issues

• Issues about religion, which encompasses in this situation the Holocaust and terrorism

• Issues about disability and/or mental illness

• Non-Western settings, in which the West is North America and Europe (ALA, 2015)

Thanks for reading!

Lauren Jacobson

References:

ALA. (2015). American Library Association. State of America’s Libraries Report 2015. “Issues and 

            Trends”. Retrieved from http://www.ala.org/news/state-americas-libraries-report-2015/issues-              and-trends

Reed, Tyler. (2010). Scholastic. News Room. “Scholastic Experts Issue List of ‘Ten Trends in                          Children’s Books From 2010’”. Retrieved from http://mediaroom.scholastic.com/node/404 

Favorite Book Share RDG/350

Welcome Class!

I know some days it feels like you can't find a good book, and all you want to do is give up; well have I got a book for you to try! 

Bunnicula

A Rabbit-Tale of Mystery

By Deborah and James Howe

"Move over Dracula! This mystery-comedy is sure to delight." -New York Times

          Who doesn't like a cute furry bunny? Well you will find out what is going on in this fun filled and mystery involved book where the story is told by Harold the DOG and Chester the CAT. Some strange things are happening at the Monroe's household after finding a suspicious-looking bunny and bringing it home. While Harold is disappointed in Bunnicula’s inability to play, Chester notices very different things. For example, Chester decides the rabbit’s teeth look very much like fangs and its fur looks like Dracula’s cape. You won't be able to put down this book until you find out what is going on, I promise you that!

You know what is even better? There are even more adventures of Bunnicula, Harold, and Chester for you to continue the crazy, fun filled journey! 

Why I like this book?

It was one of my first favorite books that I fell in love with; I couldn’t tell you how many times I read it. It is one of those books that will never get old. I would say the most interesting aspects of this book would be that it is told in the views of animals rather than humans. Harold is an old lovable dog and Chester is an intelligent, book reading cat and they team up as detectives to figure out what is happening in their household ever since the arrival of a strange looking bunny with fangs. I also read this to my daughter when she was three and she absolutely loved it and wanted me to reread it right after we finished it.

[For Teachers]

This book would be great to use in the classroom, each chapter has great word usage that can be turned into vocabulary. They can even become detectives themselves by finding the vocabulary words in each of the sections, writing the sentence down and then rewriting the sentence using a synonym or phrase that would make sense and keep the same meaning. You could even integrate it with health and talk about nutrition; the Monroe’s household have their own particular likes and dislikes when it comes to food, some less nutritious than the others. You can use this to introduce a balanced diet chart and dietary guidelines for good nutrition. There are so many ways to integrate this book to cater to your grades needs and show the students about companionship, comfort, and guidance.

Middle Grades (4th-8th) - AR Points 2.0