This collection of poetry was challenged mainly due to two of its poems. "How Not To Have to Dry the Dishes" was said to encourage messiness and disobedience while "Little Abigail and the Beautiful Pony" was objected to because it describes the death of a girl after her parents refuse to buy her a pony. The ever-popular reasons for challenges - supernatural, demons, devils and ghosts – were also voiced. This book was censored because of its association with sex. Although the information the book is relaying is associated with sex, the book was not written in an inappropriate context. The characters within the book make it easier for a younger mind to grasp the concept of conception. Although this is a serious subject, the playful characters make the subject more appealing and easier to understand to a young mind. Ranked number 2 in the 1990-1999 most challenged books in the USA for its portrayal of a gay couple one of whom is the father of the boy they look after, the book featured in the 2008 US Presidential Election when it was revealed Vice-presidential candidate Sarah Palin had tried to get the book removed from a local library. With all the kids books out there about pooping and peeing, you'd think children were obsessed with using the bathroom. According to The Long Journey of Mister Poop by Angele Delaunois, though, they're not so much obsessed as they are curious about where it comes from. Nope. This sperm named Willy is indeed on the banned book lists. I'm guessing that though this copy does show wear and tear, the wrong people (book-burners) just haven't stumbled upon it . . . yet.

Where Willy Went by Nicholas Allan | Waterstones

Frank and funny . . . Takes young children, skipping and whooping, out from under the gooseberry bush Independent Considered to be one of the best ever young adult novels, it comes fourth in America’s list of banned books 1990-2000. Dealing with high school gang culture, the main challenges were on the grounds of sexual content, violence and bad language. One school board noted the instances of causes for concern: “For Christ’s sake, bastard (24), Jesus (numerous), Christ (numerous), goddamn (10), hell (numerous), son of a bitch (4), shit/bullshit (5), queer, homo, fairy, etc.”. While arguing the book should not be in the library, the school accepted it could be easily bought in any local book shop, which might have suggested that banning the book was pointless. Access-restricted-item true Addeddate 2012-09-27 05:46:22 Bookplateleaf 0003 Boxid IA1114818 Camera Canon EOS 5D Mark II City New York DonorThe first of the hugely successful Harry Potter series, in which Harry discovers he's a wizard, and enrols in Hogwarts School of Withcraft and Wizardry. It was banned and burned in many US states for promoting witchcraft, and also banned in some Christian schools in the UK. Maybe they didn't realise it is just a story. Charlie, our narrator, describes scenes from his life in a series of letters to an anonymous person. This book was banned in the USA for reasons of: homosexuality, sexually explicit, anti-family, offensive language, religious viewpoint, unsuited to age group, drugs and suicide. Gosh.

Where Willy Went by Nicholas Allan | WHSmith

The book not only attempts to normalize gay parenting but also describes how the biological mother gets impregnated from donated sperm. It was this and the use of words such as vagina, sperm and womb that some found unacceptable and the book has been challenged repeatedly in the US. This article about a children's novel of the 2000s is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it. This book is about a sperm named Willy that tells you about how babies are born. It is very graphic. This story is about a sperm named Willy. It is a humorous and simplified version of 'where babies come from'. The story begins by focusing on Willie, the sperm, and moves on to how Willie lived inside Mr. Browne but moved into Mrs. Browne. Willie swims in a race to get out of Mr. Browne and enters into an egg where he lives and grows and grows until he is bigger than Mrs. Browne's tummy. This story has simple statistical information, diagrams, and pictures of a growing fetus. The story ends with how Willie disappeared and became Edna, a little girl, who had similarities to Willie.Hilariously funny, warm, and playful, this is a picture book that appeals to both children and grown-ups. This tale “about first love, first sex, and everything in between” saw the author have his invite to talk to the students at Manchester High School for Girls withdrawn. The Head Teacher considered the book’s themes to be “inappropriate”, although the author believed it was the prospect of dealing with irate parents that had influenced the Head more. He is indeed a sperm, which means that somehow, in this Bible-banging town in which I live, a children's book about a sperm is residing peacefully alongside the books about pokey puppies and determined train engines. How can this be? Does this mean that somehow, despite those determined to censor, and remove, we can all just get along? Hilariously funny, warm, and endearing, this is a picture book that appeals on different levels to both children and grown-ups.

Home | Nickolas Allan

But, when the day arrives, will Willy be able to swim faster than his 300 million friends? He'll have to if he stands a chance of meeting the marvellous egg. As an adult, I liked this book. I felt it was a new and interesting way to convey the same old "birds and bees" information. However, as a parent, I do agree with the banning of this book in public school libraries. I feel this book is too graphic for any and every child to be able to pull off the shelf. I think this book would be much more appropriate if used with parental consent and while I do not feel that this book provides incorrect information, I think that it should be the parents choice as to when and how their children come across this type of information. A picture book that shows, albeit in a humorous way (the sperms wear swimming goggles), how human conception takes place. It is ironic that the author is a strong Christian but still found his book challenged. Not everyone objected. One online review read “I learned a lot from this book” – this came from a 22 year-old. Perhaps he should have read a book like this when he was younger. This picture book is based on the real-life experience of Jazz Jennings, who is now a teenager. Jazz knows she is a girl who loves pink and dressing up like a mermaid, even though her family is a little confused until they visit a doctor. From there, the book explains what it means to be transgender with simple language and appealing illustrations. Unfortunately, it’s pretty easy to guess why this book has been challenged by parents in some areas—but in response, there have also been supportive readings of the book organized across the U.S. The Watsons Go to Birmingham – 1963 by Christopher Paul Curtis Nothing to get worked up about, though you know they will. All it's going to take is the wrong kid pulling Willy off the shelf, asking his mom if he can take it home, and the manure will hit the fan.

In The Night Kitchen - Maurice Sendak

Tolkien's epic fantasy trilogy follows good and evil forces in pursuit of a magical ring. The book has been banned as 'satanic' in some areas and was even burned by members of a church in New Mexico in 2001. The controversy is ironic, though, as Tolkien was a devout Christian and many scholars note Christian themes in his work. The American Library Association keeps a list of frequently challenged children’s booksbased on reports from schools and libraries across the United States. In many cases, children aren’t able to have access to these books at home, so it’s crucial that schools and libraries are able to keep books in circulation and preserve access for all children. And if today’s youth are anything like I was as a child, knowing that a book has been banned or challenged just makes it infinitely more compelling. This week is Banned Books Week, the week we celebrate having the freedom to read whatever we want. Did you know that even children’s books are challenged sometimes? It’s true. You might wonder why anyone would try to ban a picture book or a young adult novel. It turns out that there are a whole lot of reasons, including parents’ desires to protect their children from things like magic (the Harry Potter series), scientifically accurate sexual education ( Where Willy Went), and even depictions of people at the beach ( Where’s Waldo?). This is a well know and well loved classic. I chose it because it makes people think about the ideas of freedom of speech and censorship if such an innocent children's book could be banned." Ruth, North Yorkshire.