Monty Harper Songbook

Your young patorns and their parents will have a ball picking out the banned books in all my most scandalous songs. What a fun and unique way to celebrate banned book week! Click here for more information.

Possible songs include:
Take Me to Your Library
Books, Ahoy!
Catch the Reading Bug
Library Bookaneers
Hanging with Heroes

Can you help me out with the research I need for this program?

1. Which of the books mentioned in my songs have been banned or challenged, when, where, and why?
2. Which banned children's books would make good subjects for future songs? (And when where and why were they banned?) Note: I am already working on a song about And Tango Makes Three!

I have collected enough information to do a program, but it would be nice to improve on what I have! In some cases I know a book was challenged or banned but I couldn't find details. If I end up using your contribution in the program, you will earn my undying gratitude, and I'll make it worth your while with free CDs and/or program discounts.

Please also post whatever you find in a reply on this page so that others won't end up duplicating your work. (Or email it to me and I'll post it for you: monty at montyharper.com) Please include a reference or link if possible so that I can follow up and verify.

Here is the list of books, authors, and characters, along with what I already know about them. Thanks for your help!

• Star Wars books
• Star Trek books
• Charlotte's Web
• Winnie the Pooh
• Peter Pan -
  Racism, and on charges of promoting Homosexuality, drug use and miscreantism.
  Peter Pan - challenged in 03/04
  Author: Barrie, J.M.
  Synopsis: Wendy, John, and Michael Darling follow Peter Pan, the boy who never grows up, to a world where fairies live and children can fly.
  Includes encounters with mermaids, Indians, fairy dust, and Captain Hook.
  School District: Carthage ISD
  Location: Carthage
  School(s) Involved: Libby Elementary
  Setting: Library
  Reason Cited: Sexual content
  Result: Retained
  Notes: “Illustrations of a mermaid with a bare chest. The 7.2 reading level book is seldom read by second- and third-graders.”
  
• Mother Goose
• Dr. Seuss
• The Sneetches, By Dr. Seuss
• James and the Giant Peach -
  has been challenged for containing mild profanity and depicting positive anti-authority behavior and cruel aunts.
  
• Spiderwick Tales
• Katie Kazoo
• Junie B Jones
• Busy Town (Richard Scary)
• Lord of the Rings / The Hobbit
• Pinkerton
• Walter the Farting Dog
• Nate the Great
• Henry and Mudge
• Hank the Cowdog
• Winn Dixie
• Old Yeller
• Nate the Great
• Hank the Cowdog
• Nancy Drew
• Encyclopedia Brown
• Green Eggs and Ham
• The Grinch
• The Cat in the Hat
• Horton Hears a Who
• Magic Schoolbus
• Harry Potter -
  - Recently, a fellow member of Authors Supporting Intellectual Freedom forwarded an article from the Los Angeles Daily News reporting that 23 books, including the latest "Harry Potter," were removed by Wilsona, Calif., School District trustees from a list recommended by a parent-teacher committee for the Vista San Gabriel Elementary School library. Among the other books removed were two from the Artemis Fowl series, "Peter and the Star Catchers" and three bilingual "Clifford the Big Red Dog "books.
  
• Wizard of Oz
• Paul Bunyan
• Pecos Bill
• Johnny Appleseed
• Little House on the Prairie -
  - Found this one on a list with no explanation
  - Also: The Little House Collection Box Set (Full Color) by Laura Ingalls Wilder has been challenged for its negative treatment of Native Americans.
  
• King Arthur
• Cinderella
• Dealing With Dragons
• Robin Hood
• Alice in Wonderland -
  - 1900
Suspended from classroom use, pending review, at the Woodsville High School in Haverhill, New Hampshire, because the novel contains expletives, references to masturbation and sexual fantasies, and derogatory characterizations of a teachers and of religious ceremonies.
  - 1931
Banned by the Chinese Governor of Hunan Province on the ground that "Animals should not use human language, and that it was disastrous to put animals and human beings on the same level."
  
• Ralph S. Mouse
• Tacky the Penguin
• Ricky Ricotta
• Curious George
• The House on East 88th (Lyle series)
• Puss in Boots
• Clifford
• Mr. Popper's Penguins
• Jimmy's Boa
• Jeremy Thatcher, Dragon Hatcher
• Dr. Seuss - One Fish Two Fish Red Fish Blue Fish
• Prancing Dancing Lily
• Angelina Ballerina
• Dumpy La Rue
• Dinosaurumpus
• Mary Poppins
• The Sword in the Stone
• Encyclopedia (any)
• Stories with Pegasus or Dragons
• Lizard Music by Daniel Pinkwater
• The Lion the Witch and the Wardrobe -
  - Chronicles of Narnia: Why is this book “dangerous?”:
  Throughout its existence, Narnia’s availability has been challenged in a variety of different settings. It has been banned in numerous public lower schools, faced criticism from various religious communities, and even faced removal from public libraries. A children’s fantasy by genre, this would at first appear extremely surprising. Christianity today, a popular Christian magazine, highlighted many of books anger arousing aspects when it said “it [Narnia] is a sullied book that attempts to animalize Jesus Christ, putting his struggles into clichéd animal characters…” On top of this, the book has often been cited for arousing children to act in mischievous manners, disobeying the conventions of their elders while looking for adventure. Even when read casually, many have dictated that the chronicles create “rebellious and unruly youth,” (Christianity Today). Although the above may be extreme situations, from it one can clearly gleam the controversial nature of this seemingly innocent and pure series of fantasies.
  
• Treasure Isle