Banned Books Week: Children and YA Books

Challenged for insensitivity, offensive language, violence and for being anti-family, anti-ethnic and occult/satanic.

Challenged & banned internationally for themes of witchcraft, violence, and many more.

Challenged & removed from several libraries & schools for nudity in its illustrations.

Challenged in Laytonville, CA Unified School District in 1989 because the book "criminalizes the foresting industry."

Challenged in many schools & libraries due to its message which encourages children to disobey their parents and other authority figures.

Banned & challenged from several school libraries due to its "obscene" content including sexual situations, profanity, and encouragement of disrespectful behavior.

Challenged in schools & libraries due to "anti-family" themes and discussions on the topic of rape.

Challenged for its stereotyping of Native Americans.

Challenged due to its encouragement of inappropriate behavior and "setting a bad example" for students.

This book has not officially been challenged or banned, but has been criticized for its use of ethnic stereotypes.

Removed from the Boulder, CO Public Library in 1988 because a librarian considered it to be sexist.

Challenged within an Iowa public school curriculum in 1987 because it was "too sophisticated and did not teach moral values".

Challenged & banned for its discussion on the topic of rape.

Due to its sexual content this book has been challenged & banned for being "pornographic" in nature.

Challenged for "objectionable language" and sexual content.

Banned for graphic language, sexual content, and undermining authority.

Considered offensive on moral and religious grounds.

Banned from a school in Clay County, Florida for profanities.

Challenged as "profane, immoral, and offensive" in several school libraries.

Maus and Maus II have been challenged for being unsuitable to young readers and ‘anti-ethnic’.

This comic is not itself banned or challenged, but several of the nursery rhymes inside have been, such as “Baa Baa Black Sheep” for racism.

Challenged due to use of profanities, it promotes drugs & alcohol, and encourages children to disobey parents & authority figures.

Removed from collection at Boulder, CO Public Library in 1988 because the librarian believed the book "espouses a poor philosophy of life".

Challenged in Xenia, OH schools because it taught children poor ethical conduct such as spying, lying, and cursing.

Removed & challenged in several schools due to offensive language and racism.

Challenged & banned due to sexual content.

Challenged because it promoted witchcraft & violence.

Challenged due to use of racial slurs.

Challenged due to violence, profanity, and sexual content in several schools & libraries.

Challenged because it glorifies slavery and racism.

Challenged in several schools on the grounds of violent content.

Challenged & removed in several libraries due to profane language.

This book was banned in the elementary and junior highs schools of Matsue City for gruesome imagery. There is a call to remove it from the schools of Izumisano City due to claims that the book discriminates against the mentally ill and poor. Some say it is being challenged out of shame because of the brutal aspects of Japan’s history depicted in the book, but this has never been an official reason.

This title was not specifically threatened with a ban, but a vote was held to ban the Bone series from all elementary schools in a district of Minnesota for references in the graphic novels to gambling, smoking, and drinking. The vote to ban was not successful.