Why did where the sidewalk ends get banned?

Why did where the sidewalk ends get banned?

His poems were challenged because they undermine parental authority.

   

Where the Sidewalk Ends is one of the most challenged children's book because many parents view it as rebellious. The poems are said to undermine parental authority, and encourage the views of the occult. In 1986 the book was banned from West Allis Milwaukee school libraries because of drug reference, suicide, death, and a disrespect for truth and authority. Central Columbia School District in Bloomsburg, Pennsylvania also banned the book. Specifically for the poem, "Dreadful", a funny poem about how someone ate the baby. The concern was that lines like "Someone ate the baby" would encourage young students to participate in cannibalism. It has also been challenged by Xenia, Ohio school district and Minot, North Dakota public school system because the book supposedly undermines school and religious authority.


Why did where the sidewalk ends get banned?

Parents don't like this poem because it encourages children to be rude.

Part of the big problem with his books is the fact that they encourage kids to not follow the rules and to instead use their imagination. The poetry is meant to be humorous and funny. However, he does often include some very realistic things that parents often don't want to expose their children to yet. But to children, they're not going to read a poem and assume that Silverstein is referencing drug use, they're going to think that funny man in the story is seeing things. Where the Sidewalk Ends has sold millions of copies worldwide, and children love the stories because they're funny. It also does give children a realistic point of view of the world, which is good for them to have. But, there are poems that give a optimistic view of the future.   
   


Why did where the sidewalk ends get banned?

One of the humorous poems in Where the Sidewalk Ends

    Banning books can really hurt children and cause them not to become the well-rounded readers that we encourage them to become today. When reading a book, a child doesn't have the same experiences that an adult has to apply as they're reading. They don't know what racism or cannibalism is, and they won't know unless they are told. So really, banning books isn't protecting them from much of anything. Instead, it's stopping them from reading very good books and stories.


Why did where the sidewalk ends get banned?
For more than 40 years the books of Sheldon Allan “Shel” Silverstein have entertained and delighted readers as they are shared by fans and passed down to younger generations.

The Giving Tree is one of the most affectionate, oft-quoted, and beloved children’s stories of all time; A Light in the Attic and Where the Sidewalk Ends are many a child’s first introduction to poetry.

These books have endured because Silverstein paints a whimsical world of fantasy that teaches us valuable and philosophical lessons, while at the same time making us laugh at absolute nonsense.

Let’s face it, how many of us haven’t wondered at some point why a babysitter doesn’t sit on a baby? Well, I did, but I digress…

So what could be so evil about these tales that the American Library Association has Silverstein on its list of frequently banned books?

Some argue that it has nothing to do with the books themselves; it is simply the fact that Shel Silverstein wrote them that is the reason they should be banned because his career included having drawn cartoons for Playboy. This led to some claiming that A Light in the Attic contained “Suggestive illustrations.”

That’s all? Haven’t these people ever heard of creative diversity?

The controversy over The Giving Tree is mostly due to debate over its interpretation. Was the tree selfless or self-sacrificing? Was the boy selfish or reasonable in his demands of the tree?

Some psychologists claim the book portrays a “vicious, one-sided relationship” between the tree and the boy; with the tree as the selfless giver, and the boy as the greedy person who takes but never gives.

Talk about overanalyzing. That’s just too much thought put into a children’s book that the only thing I ever got out of was the importance of sharing; and I was a professional in the mental health field for over 10 years.

Still, the criticisms continued when, in 1985, challengers at Cunningham Elementary School in Beloit, Wisconsin, said that A Light in the Attic “encourages children to break dishes so they won’t have to dry them.”

As soon as the news of one school district banning the books was revealed, other schools across the nation quickly jumped on the bandwagon. By the end of the 20th century it was at #51 for the 100 most banned books of the 1990’s.

The poem “Little Abigail and the Beautiful Pony” led to condemnation by the Fruitland Park Elementary School in Lake County, Florida since little Abigail, whose parents refused to buy her a pony, dies at the end. The decision was later overturned by an advisory committee of parents and teachers.

Other objections included the mention of supernatural themes such as demons, devils, and ghosts in many of the poems.

Such was the case at an elementary school in Mukwonago, Wisconsin, where the charges were made that the poems “glorified Satan, suicide, and cannibalism.”

Where the Sidewalk Ends was yanked from the shelves of West Allis-West Milwaukee, Wisconsin school libraries in 1986 over fears that it “promotes drug use, the occult, suicide, death, violence, disrespect for truth, disrespect for authority, and rebellion against parents.”

Members of the Central Columbia School District in Bloomsburg, Pennsylvania must have confused the year 1993 with 1393 when they objected to the poem Dreadful over the line “someone ate the baby” because they feared some of their more impressionable students might actually be encouraged to engage in cannibalism.

Sidewalk was also challenged in the Xenia, Ohio, school district in 1983; and by the public school system in Minot, North Dakota in 1986.

Silverstein’s books have sold more than 20 million copies worldwide in 20 different languages, and he is the recipient of many literary awards, including a Grammy and an Oscar for his songwriting.

Sadly, the man who brought light to so many left this world in such a dark manner.

He was found by two housekeepers at his apartment in Key West on May 10, 1999, a victim of a heart attack.

What he leaves behind are timeless classics that delight children and provide adults with a sense of heartfelt nostalgia.

The thing I find so fascinating and admirable about these works is that Silverstein figuratively sits on the floor, looking at his young readers eye to eye, and speaking to them as intellectual equals. His words tell them to enjoy being children, and to stay children for as long as possible.

What the book burners don’t get, and perhaps never will get, is that it’s okay to have a difference of opinion; that there are more options than two polar opposites. This is reflected in “Listen to the Musn’ts”:

Listen to the MUSN’TS, child,
Listen to the DON’TS
Listen to the SHOULDN’TS
The IMPOSSIBLES, the WON’TS
Listen to the NEVER HAVES
Then listen close to me–
Anything can happen, child
ANYTHING can be.

That seems like a fairly respectful way to go through life to me; but that’s just my opinion. I could be wrong.

Sources: American Library Association, Babble.com, Wikipedia, Amazon.com, Yahoo News, Examiner.com, USA Today, Southwest Wisconsin Association of Libraries.

© 2011 R. Wolf Baldassarro/Deep Forest Productions

Has where the sidewalk ends been banned?

Where the Sidewalk Ends was banned in numerous libraries after its publication. Generally, the collection was viewed by parents as encouraging rebellion and disrespect of authority.

What is the most banned book in 2022?

1. "Gender Queer: A Memoir," by Maia Kobabe. The most banned book of the 2021-2022 school year was "Gender Queer: A Memoir" by Maia Kobabe. It was removed from school libraries and/or classroom bookshelves on 41 separate instances, according to PEN America.

Why was Diary of a Wimpy Kid banned?

"Diary of a Wimpy Kid" by Jeff Kinney was challenged in Oct 2018 in Conroe ISD because the complainant believed the main character had a “pessimistic world view” and the story was “contrary to everything Christian, and those of any faith who are seeking morality.”

Why was Brown Bear Brown Bear What Do You See banned?

In 2010, the book was briefly banned from Texas' third grade curriculum due to a confusion between author of children's books Bill Martin Jr, and author of Ethical Marxism: The Categorical Imperative of Liberation (Creative Marxism) philosopher Bill Martin.