Books in which such references are deemed “patently offensive” by the vendors will be issued a “sexually explicit” rating and can’t be sold to schools and must be removed from shelves of school libraries. The local censorship efforts come as courts wrestle with a new Texas law that requires booksellers to rate public school library books based on their depictions of or references to sex. “There are these ripples that are going to extend beyond simply removing a book to just read, erring on the side of caution and bringing a bit more scrutiny to any availability of books and any opportunities that students can have to access books.” “Even after that first removal of books, what we see is a continued chilling effect that happens across schools,” she said in an interview. Kasey Meehan, the Freedom to Read program director for the New York-based free speech organization PEN America, said that as Texas enters what is essentially its third consecutive school year of book banning activity, efforts have taken some troubling directions. We want to provide an environment where children can hang on to their innocence as long as possible.” Friendswood Christian School is a private institution devoted to creating a complete learning environment for children by incorporating Christian principles into the academic framework. “We’re at a crossroads where we share different values and beliefs, especially when it comes to exposing young children to adult topics. “The book fair is one of our biggest fundraisers, but unfortunately, we have seen more and more books that promote and support LBGTQ+ views,” the school wrote. In a letter to parents, obtained by ABC13 in Houston, the school made clear the decision was aimed at books featuring LGBTQ+ themes and characters. “The board’s intent was never to remove well-known cartoon-like children’s books just because they showed a little drawing of a little boy’s rear-end,” its president, Victor Perez, said, according to the Houston Chronicle.Īnd just south of Houston, the private Friendswood Christian School announced it was canceling its Scholastic Book Fair, barring the nation’s largest children’s book publisher, which has put on book fairs at schools around the country for decades. “Explicit frontal nudity,” on the other hand, would not be allowed. (This wasn’t the district’s first foray into regulating cartoon nudity over the summer, a book about a crayon that lost its wrapper, becoming “naked” in the process, was flagged for review but ultimately retained.)įollowing the latest removals, the Katy school board decided that cartoon butts would be exempted from a district policy that called for removing books showing nudity. Seuss and Judy Blume, as well as “No, David!” an award-winning children’s book featuring a mischievous cartoon character who at one point jumps out of a bathtub, exposing a cartoon backside. The district then banned 14 titles (bringing its total since 2021 to 30), including popular books by Dr.

In Katy, a growing Houston suburb, school officials recently bought $93,000 worth of new library books and promptly put them in storage so an internal committee could review them. Also, sign up for The Brief, our daily newsletter that keeps readers up to speed on the most essential Texas news.Īs a new Texas law further restricting what books students can check out of school libraries takes effect, local bans are gaining steam in districts across the state - in some cases going in startling directions. Sign up for ProPublica’s Big Story newsletter to receive stories like this one in your inbox as soon as they are published. This article is co-published with ProPublica, a nonprofit newsroom that investigates abuses of power.

Cartoon images of library books