# James and the Giant Peach Banned? Really??



## brianrowe (Mar 10, 2011)

I've been going to the library a lot lately and just borrowed a few Roald Dahl titles. Next to R.L. Stine, he was probably my favorite author as a kid. One of the last of his titles I haven't read is James and the Giant Peach, and I just heard that many schools are trying to ban this book from their libraries, for dumb reasons like, it contains the word ass, and that it promotes mischief in young children!! This is insane! What do you all think makes for acceptable grounds for banning a book in school libraries? Content? Language? Sexuality?


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## Michelle Muto (Feb 1, 2011)

Really? REALLY?

This is sad. What's next? Diary of a Wimpy Kid? Old Yeller? 

It's Int'l Banned Book Week, btw. I find it interesting which books made the list. I'm making it my goal to read one of them this week.


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## John Blackport (Jul 18, 2011)

I'd verify that before getting upset.  Book-banning rumors are often exaggerated accounts of a single person's rant at a PTA meeting.


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## JRTomlin (Jan 18, 2011)

brianrowe said:


> I've been going to the library a lot lately and just borrowed a few Roald Dahl titles. Next to R.L. Stine, he was probably my favorite author as a kid. One of the last of his titles I haven't read is James and the Giant Peach, and I just heard that many schools are trying to ban this book from their libraries, for dumb reasons like, it contains the word *ss, and that it promotes mischief in young children!! This is insane! What do you all think makes for acceptable grounds for banning a book in school libraries? Content? Language? Sexuality?


If they think _James and the Giant Peach_ promotes mischief, they are gonna HATE Sendak's new children's book. Ha!

Book banning. I'm pretty much against it, surely not surprise from an author.


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## Carol (was Dara) (Feb 19, 2011)

I often find the reasons behind book banning pretty silly. I mean, I'm all for cutting back kids' exposure to books with language and violence but "promoting mischief"? Really?


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## Kenneth Rosenberg (Dec 3, 2010)

Hmmm... _James and the Giant Peach_ was one of my favorite books when I was a kid. Who knew I could have blamed all of my mischief on Roald Dahl?!


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## Pinworms (Oct 20, 2010)

Do you have a source?


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## WriterCTaylor (Jul 11, 2011)

John Blackport said:


> I'd verify that before getting upset. Book-banning rumors are often exaggerated accounts of a single person's rant at a PTA meeting.


Agree totally.


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## Ann in Arlington (Oct 27, 2008)

Pinworms said:


> Do you have a source?


That's a good point. . . . "I heard that" with no documentation is nothing but unfounded rumor and gossip and, as such, fairly useless.


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## luvmy4brats (Nov 9, 2008)

I saw it when I was looking at banned book lists.. I'll see if I can find it.


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## luvmy4brats (Nov 9, 2008)

Here's the first link I saw it on:

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2010/03/29/the-11-most-surprising-ba_n_515381.html

http://www.ala.org/ala/mgrps/divs/aasl/aaslpubsandjournals/slmrb/slmrcontents/volume14/magnuson.cfm



> The censorship of books can also produce the effects of scarcity. Salomon Rushdie's Satanic Versus and Mian Mian's Candy saw a boom in sales after the books were banned in certain countries (Pratkinis and Aronson 2001). Some of the most loved and popular books of all time have been challenged or banned, including Anne Frank: The Diary of a Young Girl, Catch-22, Gone with the Wind, James and the Giant Peach, and To Kill a Mockingbird (Sova 199. A classic like The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn is as much known for its controversies as it is for its plotline.


People try to get all sorts of books banned... Sylvester and the Magic Pebble? Harry Potter? The Goosebumps series? The dictionary? Little Women? Yep... All of those have been banned at one time or another.

http://www.factmonster.com/spot/banned-kids-books.html


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## MLPMom (Nov 27, 2009)

Awww that is sad. I remember my teacher reading it to us in school and my oldest has already read it and did a book report on it for school.
Crazy.

Honestly, I am not sure what should ever constitute a ban, I mean, as a parent it is my job to be monitoring what my children do and don't read.


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## JRTomlin (Jan 18, 2011)

http://classiclit.about.com/od/bannedliteratur1/tp/aa_bannedbooks.01.htm

Edit: The 100 Most Frequently Challenged Books of 1990-2000 list from the American Library Association. Take a look at number 56.

http://www.ala.org/Template.cfm?Section=bbwlinks&Template=/ContentManagement/ContentDisplay.cfm&ContentID=85714


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## ashel (May 29, 2011)

Heh. Banning books is always stupid, but if you're into that kind of thing, Dahl is, um, pretty dark. Remember Matilda? Or the Twits? His children's books might be nicely illustrated, but they're definitely not a nice view of the world. And also with lots of bonus challenges to authority! Yeah, if you are the authoritarian, fearful-of-change type who's into book banning, I can see where those would be high on your list.

(Seriously, Matilda? Carrie, with marginally less blood.)


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## JRTomlin (Jan 18, 2011)

genevieveaclark said:


> Heh. Banning books is always stupid, but if you're into that kind of thing, Dahl is, um, pretty dark. Remember Matilda? Or the Twits? His children's books might be nicely illustrated, but they're definitely not a nice view of the world. And also with lots of bonus challenges to authority! Yeah, if you are the authoritarian, fearful-of-change type who's into book banning, I can see where those would be high on your list.
> 
> (Seriously, Matilda? Carrie, with marginally less blood.)


That is apparently nothing to _Daddy's Roommate_ by Michael Willhoitew which is #2 on the list. The horror! A children's book in which there are gay parents!


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## tim290280 (Jan 11, 2011)

JRTomlin said:


> http://classiclit.about.com/od/bannedliteratur1/tp/aa_bannedbooks.01.htm
> 
> Edit: The 100 Most Frequently Challenged Books of 1990-2000 list from the American Library Association. Take a look at number 56.
> 
> http://www.ala.org/Template.cfm?Section=bbwlinks&Template=/ContentManagement/ContentDisplay.cfm&ContentID=85714


I like that it is held in lower regard and needs to be banned more than American Psycho at 60.

I posted in another thread that when you read the reasons why they want to ban these books it is quite obvious that people haven't read the books or they haven't understood them. Sometimes the readers might be too young to understand them, but banning them??

Oh, and apparently Animal Farm was promoting communism.....


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## GerrieFerrisFinger (Jun 1, 2011)

James and the Giant Peach banned? As a retired journalist, I find banning any books an abomination to free speech. Let the parents decide what their children should and shouldn't read.


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## ak rain (Nov 15, 2008)

MLPMom you are very correct we should take part and enjoy our kids reading.  In my family suggestions go both directions. 

It is just crazy why there have been complaints on many of the books that I have enjoyed. some I see why others I don't. 

Sylvia


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## WestofMars (Sep 16, 2009)

At least James and the Giant Peach wasn't banned for latent sexual images in the title. Or is my mind in the gutter again?

I'm firmly of the belief that banning a book only makes it more attractive. I'm still not sure who gets to make these judgments, and why the rest of us allow them to... but... whatever. It gives us a week to celebrate some pretty darn good books.


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## Katie Salidas (Mar 21, 2010)

WestofMars said:


> At least James and the Giant Peach wasn't banned for latent sexual images in the title. Or is my mind in the gutter again?
> 
> *I'm firmly of the belief that banning a book only makes it more attractive.* I'm still not sure who gets to make these judgments, and why the rest of us allow them to... but... whatever. It gives us a week to celebrate some pretty darn good books.


I have to agree with you there. There is something very intriguing about a book people don't think you "should" read.


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## ArtMayo (Sep 13, 2011)

Of course it's banned -- it promotes unhealthy GM food. How else do you think the peach got so big?

Thank goodness the children are safe at last.


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## KateEllison (Jul 9, 2011)

ArtMayo said:


> Of course it's banned -- it promotes unhealthy GM food. How else do you think the peach got so big?
> 
> Thank goodness the children are safe at last.


Haha.


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## KateEllison (Jul 9, 2011)

My library has this big cork board in the lobby where all the "book complaints" letters are displayed for a certain period of time, per the regulations of the library (60 days I think). Reading them is one of my favorite things to do ... people want books banned/removed for the CRAZIEST reasons.


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## brianrowe (Mar 10, 2011)

I actually borrowed James and the Giant Peach from my local library... it has this large list of complaints on the front cover!! It was challenged at a school in 1991 because it's "not appropriate reading material for young children." Then again at another school in 1991 because it includes the word "ass"! Then again in 1992 because the book promotes drugs and whiskey (??). Then again in 1995 because the book encourages children to disobey their parents!!! The book was removed from these many classroom and put in a restricted section of their libraries. Lastly, the book was officially banned from a school in Texas because it includes the word "ass." Oy vey.


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## WestofMars (Sep 16, 2009)

Heh. I should send all those challengers copies of Trevor's Song... 

Seriously, though, it's scary, isn't it? A book has to be removed because it encourages kids to disobey? Hello, Harry Potter? CS Lewis (weren't those kids told not to play in their Wardrobe?)? What about SE Hinton? 

Childhood rebellion is a rite of passage. I'd sooner my kids learn how to rebel properly (without being thrown in jail or permanently disfigured) than for them to... well, wind up in jail or permanently disfigured.


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## Tamara Rose Blodgett (Apr 1, 2011)

That'll be one sad day! I loved _James and the Giant Peach_ ( my four sons did too!). *rolls-eyes* My mom would say the schools were, "majoring in the minors..."


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