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Today is World Read Aloud Day! Silent reading is the norm these days, but that wasn't always the case. Clay tablets dated some 4,000 years ago commonly used words for "to read" that literally meant "to cry out" or "to listen."

Reading only with the voices in our heads may be what’s typical, but recent research indicates that we’re missing out on a lot by limiting ourselves to silent reading. Because the ancient art of reading aloud has quite a few benefits.

What's the perfect form of literature for reading aloud? Short stories. And Edgar Allan Poe is a master of the form. So, start reaping the benefits of reading aloud by celebrating World Read Aloud Day. And do so with a couple of Edgar Allan Poe stories you probably never heard of.

You can find them at: https://thisbookisbanned.com/celebrations/its-world-read-aloud-day/

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It’s  Black History Month, and we’re celebrating by shining a spotlight on Phillis Wheatley and William Wells Brown. Wheatley was the first African-American to publish a book of poetry. And Brown authored the first novel written by an African-American.

No, that isn’t a typo in Phillis’ name. That’s actually the way it’s spelled – just like the slave ship that brought her to Boston from West Africa in 1761. Yep, you’ve got that right. Disturbing as that is, Phillis Wheatley was named for the slave ship she was forced onto when she was torn from her home at about the age of seven. And Wheatley’s story gets even more intriguing from there.

Born into slavery in1814, Brown escaped and became an agent of the Underground Railroad at the age of nineteen. A self-taught writer and orator, he befriended a number of black abolitionists, including Charles Lenox Remond and Frederick Douglass.

Learn more about these compelling, history-making individuals here: https://thisbookisbanned.com/celebrations/its-black-history-month-phillis-wheatley-and-william-wells-brown/

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Of Mice and Men:  Am I my brother’s keeper.

Am I my brother’s keeper?  That’s the question Cain defiantly put to God in the book of Genesis when God confronted Cain about the death of his brother Abel. And as we all know, due to Cain’s self-centered, uncaring nature, things didn’t turn out very well for him. 

What does that have to do with John Steinbeck’s novella Of Mice and Men, you say?

Eden is a central motif in Steinbeck’s work. So, it’s no surprise that, when read in light of these mythic implications, Of Mice and Men revolves around the serious moral question of “Am I my brother’s keeper,” and man’s fate in this fallen world.

But it doesn’t play out the way you might think. To discover the biblical message Of Mice and Men conveys, read more here:

https://thisbookisbanned.com/banned/of-mice-and-men-am-i-my-brothers-keeper/

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November is National Native American Heritage Month. So, it’s the perfect time for the following piece by guest essayist Maggie Speck-Kern. Her essay examines the “American experience,” specifically the drastically different lives that native American activist Zitkála-Ša (pronounced Zit-KAH-la-shah) and author Laura Ingalls Wilder experienced during the pioneer era.

Speck-Kern also points out the many important ways their lives were more similar than different despite the vast disparity between their respective cultures, a realization we would do well to remember in our own lives – especially these days. Check out this insightful, and more-relevant-than-ever piece here:

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I guess it was only a matter of time. Book banners have begun targeting Little Free Libraries. You know…  those colorful boxes that have sprouted up designed to promote neighborhood book exchanges.

A leader with Utah Parents United has called for state representative Sahara Hayes to be prosecuted following her announcement that she planned to celebrate Banned Books Week by placing titles banned in a Utah school in Little Free Libraries. (Axios Salt Lake City, Oct. 4, 2024).

The agenda of groups like Utah Parents United, Moms for Liberty, and the Family Heritage Alliance has resulted in several states’ legislation that threaten teachers and librarians with jailtime for making so-called “obscene” material available.

Hayes may be a state representative, but needless to say, targeting Little Free Libraries trains the threat of prosecution on everyday citizens. Clearly these banners’ agenda is about more than the parents’ rights they purport to be their concern. This move is obviously designed to have a chilling effect on the free expression of citizens across the board.

How can you help resist such efforts? Find tools to fight back, and support the freedom to read here: https://thisbookisbanned.com/fight-book-bans/

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We’re solidly into October – the month of Halloween. And, our latest Fun & Fancy Word might apply to your holiday experience if you don’t follow your mom’s advice to avoid being edacious with your tricks and treats.

What’s our latest Fun & Fancy word? Unmask the mystery here: https://thisbookisbanned.com/fun-and-fancy-words/

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We’re putting a bow on Banned Books Week with a deep dive into Ray Bradbury’s iconic dystopian novel Fahrenheit 451. Bradbury’s work offers compelling insights into today’s epidemic of book banning.

The progression of events within the text parallels the way this scourge of book bans has unfolded. And, the predictive nature of Bradbury’s observations makes the correlations between them all the more captivating.

Be sure to take a look at this study of how the society Bradbury’s protagonist lives in reached the point where firemen no longer extinguish fires but set books ablaze.

The following link will take you there: https://thisbookisbanned.com/banned/fahrenheit-451-insights-into-todays-epidemic-of-book-banning/

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Banned Books Week starts today! And, this year’s theme is “Freed Between the Lines.”

Our freedom to explore different perspectives and new ideas is under threat. The Office for Intellectual Freedom has documented 4,240 unique book titles targeted for censorship, as well as 1,247 demands to censor library books, materials, and resources in 2023.

But, book bans do more than just restrict our access to stories. They undermine our rights. So, let’s push back against book bans by coming together to celebrate the right to read… and find freedom in the pages of a book.

Discover some Banned Books Week events, and ways to get involved here: https://thisbookisbanned.com/celebrations/banned-books-week-2024/

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Hispanic Heritage Month starts today! It begins in the middle of the month because September 15th is the anniversary of independence for the Latin American countries Costa Rica, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras and Nicaragua. With Mexico and Chile celebrating their independence days on September 16th and September 18th respectively.

Celebrate with a banned book by a Hispanic author or two… or maybe even three.  Find a list of fabulous choices here: https://thisbookisbanned.com/celebrations/hispanic-heritage-month-begins-on-september-15/

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HELP KEEP OUR DEMOCRACY FUNCTIONING: VOTE FOR THE RIGHT TO READ!

Access to diverse books is not only essential to a strong education and a free mind, it’s critical to a healthy democracy.

Reading is our most powerful tool for developing analytic and critical thinking. It expands our conceptual capacities. It trains perspective-taking and cognitive empathy – social skills indispensable for informed citizens in a democratic society.

But, we’re currently in the midst of a book banning crisis. Well-funded pressure groups are pushing state governments to impose educational gag orders on teachers and staff. They’re mandating the removal of books from library and school shelves.

Polling repeatedly shows that communities across our country agree that families should be able to decide for themselves what their children can and cannot read. Not another parent. And certainly not a politician. At their core, these laws are anti-family, anti-freedom, and anti-American.

These pressure groups won’t quit pushing for anti-education policies. Nor will state and local legislators refrain from introducing such bills until we put a stop to it at the ballot box. Like in the election that’s coming up in November.

GO HERE FOR A VOTER CHECKLIST TO ENSURE THAT WE DO JUST THAT: https://thisbookisbanned.com/on-censorship/help-keep-our-democracy-functioning-vote-for-the-right-to-read/

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There were over 4,300 instances of book bans between July and December 2023 alone. That’s 1,300 higher than the entire previous school year. These are “the highest levels ever documented,” and they occurred across 23 states and 52 public school districts.

Several states have moved to counter this surge of book bans by enacting laws that prohibit banning books in public libraries within their borders. Illinois was the first to do so, then California and Maryland – with Minnesota following suit this past June. 

Congresswoman Ayanna Pressley has taken this corrective trend even further by introducing the Books Save Lives Act. This bill – should it be passed into law –  would prohibit book bans at the federal level.

For details about the Books Save Lives Act, check out the following press release Congresswoman Pressley issued on December 14, 2023 – and, be sure to also take a look at the full text of the bill.

You can find both of them here: https://thisbookisbanned.com/banned/the-books-save-lives-act/

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I met the fabulously talented Jason Reynolds – as well as the illustrators of his debut picture book – at the American Library Association’s recent conference. Reynolds, Jerome Pumphrey and Jarrett Pumphrey were signing  There Was a Party for Langston, their magnificent book about “king o’ letters” Langston Hughes.

There Was a Party for Langston was inspired by a 1991 photo of Maya Angelou and Amiri Baraka dancing up a storm at a “fancy-foot, get-down, all-out bash” honoring the grand opening of the Langston Hughes Auditorium in Harlem, Manhattan, New York City. And the book Jason Reynolds was inspired to produce is positively pulchritudinous.

To learn more about Langston Hughes, and the book he inspired, follow this link: https://thisbookisbanned.com/celebrations/jason-reynolds-one-of-langston-hughes-word-children/

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Today is the anniversary of the Stonewall uprising! On this day in 1969, a group of patrons at the Stonewall Inn – a bar in Greenwich Village, New York City, that was the frequent target of police raids because it catered to the LGBT+ community – fought back against harassment and police brutality. This uprising set a wave of activism in motion among LGBT+ people. So, many historians credit Stonewall with putting LGBT civil rights on the American political map.

Don’t miss our take on Oscar Wilde’s novel The Picture of Dorian Gray, in observance of this anniversary!  What does Wilde’s only novel have to do with the anniversary of the Stonewall uprising?

Of course, this commemoration serves as an opportunity to celebrate the progress that has been made since Stonewall. But, it’s also an important reminder of the struggles and injustices members of the LGBT+ community have not only faced throughout history, but continue to face.

For example, LGBTQ+ youth are more than four times more at risk for suicide than their straight cisgendered peers. Not because LGBTQ+ individuals are inherently prone to suicide risk – they aren’t. Being stigmatized by society is what places LGBTQ+ individuals, like early computer genius Alan Turing, at a higher risk for suicide. Oscar Wilde's classic work The Picture of Dorian Gray tells the story of this unfortunate reality.

Follow this link to read more about how The Picture of Dorian Gray, speaks to the way living in a hostile, anti-LGBTQ+ society is corrosive to the mental and emotional well-being of LGBTQ+ individuals:

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June is a busy month. It’s Pride Month, of course. And, then there’s Juneteenth. But, June is also National Immigrant Heritage Month. It’s a time for people across the United States to explore their own heritage and celebrate the diversity at the heart of the unique story that is America.

So, in celebration of our diverse nation, and the enormous contributions immigrants have made to our culture, be sure to give our chat with Jamie Jo Hoang a read. Jamie’s book  “My Father, the Panda Killer,” is a touching and insightful examination of her Vietnamese heritage, one which does indeed celebrate the contribution that legacy makes to the diversity of the United States.

Find our chat with Jamie Jo Hoang, author of “My Father the Panda Killer” here: https://thisbookisbanned.com/benefits-of-humanities/power-of-books-author-series-jamie-jo-hoang/

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June is a busy month. It’s Pride Month, of course. And, then there’s Juneteenth. But, June is also National Immigrant Heritage Month. It’s a time for people across the United States to explore their own heritage and celebrate the diversity at the heart of the unique story that is America.

So, in celebration of our diverse nation, and the enormous contributions immigrants have made to our culture, be sure to give our chat with Jamie Jo Hoang a read. Jamie’s book  “My Father, the Panda Killer,” is a touching and insightful examination of her Vietnamese heritage, one which does indeed celebrate the contribution that legacy makes to the diversity of the United States.

Find our chat with Jamie Jo Hoang, author of “My Father the Panda Killer” here: https://thisbookisbanned.com/benefits-of-humanities/power-of-books-author-series-jamie-jo-hoang/

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It’s Juneteenth, and we’re celebrating Ida B. Wells-Barnett in observance of this historically significant day. Her lifelong campaign to make lynching a federal crime finally came to fruition on March 29, 2022 – 124 years and 21 presidents later. 

She was an educator, investigative journalist, and early civil rights activist during the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries.

Lamentably, it’s become exceedingly difficult to tell stories like Ida’s and make her work known in American schools. Because more and more states are introducing legislation that restricts how teachers can discuss racism, sexism, and issues of systemic inequality in their classrooms.

But, you can learn about this formidable crusader for racial justice here:  https://thisbookisbanned.com/celebrations/celebrating-ida-b-wells-barnett/

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Plant your peepers on this sensational new edition of our Power of Books Author Series. And, it’s a perfect fit for Pride Month!

This edition features Federico Erebia, author of Pedro & Daniel, which follows two gay, neurodivergent, Mexican American brothers, over a 24 year span, who experience joy and laughter, despite years of abuse and oppression.

Our conversation adds another layer of depth and nuance to the question of why it’s important for stories about diversity to be told. This time around, we touch on the hope books like Federico’s offer young readers who may be dealing with stigma and abuse.

Check out our uplifting conversation here: https://thisbookisbanned.com/benefits-of-humanities/power-of-books-author-series-federico-erebia/