ursulav

No one has banned Toad Words yet (I hope, is that a sign you've made it as a writer?) but I am reading it and an greatly entertained. ^_^

I adore this picture.

Banned as in the literal meaning of the word?

It's a semi-common occurrence for schools, libraries, etc. to ban various famous books (for example, Tom Sawyer / Huckleberry Finn) because the parents involved with the institution don't like some of the content. Because banning it means that it doesn't exist any more, right? Just like how if you don't talk to your teens about sex then they won't have any. This is logical.

We have a big display in our library. A lot of the students are stopping and looking.

I've fallen over that use of "celebrate" before, too. Maybe, like Memorial Day, one should "observe" a date (range) recognizing a bad event in the past? "Recognize" just doesn't sound strong enough.

"Observe the book, Librum maximi momenti. These gentle creatures live in herds, or 'libraries,' and come in many varieties, which vary size and coloration from the svelte but brilliantly pigmented picture books of a few dozen pages to weighty but soberly marked hardcovers thousands of pages high. Books of any variety can live for hundreds, if not thousands of years.

A symbiotic creature, the wild book thrives when in the hands of the young of its host species. However, the relationship is not without its perils for the book. Occasionally, the adults of the host species will become agitated and turn against a specific book within the library. Suspected of bringing harm to the young, the book is shunned, cast out, and no longer allowed near their young. These 'banned' books are usually relegated to the fringes of the library - the 'closed stacks' zone - and may even be banished entirely, a process known as 'deselection.' Over time, the fears of the host parents may ease or be defeated by more dominant members of their communities, and the banned books may repopulate libraries previously barred to them."

Sorry, this just sort of sprang fully formed when you went with "observe." I think your point is great and I mean no disrespect but I just couldn't resist.

Awesome!

This stands up there with David Attenborough's description of Olympic Curling (q.v. You Tube), and should be read aloud in the same manner! (I'm not sure what visuals one would use with the voice over, though...)

Bravo!

I quite agree.

Yay Wendell! What a great reason.

I love that picture and that message. Brava!

I never understood this whole banned thing. As a liberal pagan mother, I encourage my children to read as much as possible at their appropriate age level.

There is a list somewhere, right? Or does Google participate in banning? I know Amazon does...

I think there's a whole BUNCH of lists--there's no master list, so far as I know. The majority of banned books these days are banned by individual libraries and school systems, and you only find out when it hits the news.

I work at a small independent, new and used, bookstore (we have Dragonsbreaths!), and was wondering if we could print out some of your book related art, like this and the three bears, for taping to our windows/displays?