Magic Tree House author Mary Pope Osborne, children’s poet Shel Silverstein and Calvin and Hobbes cartoonist Bill Watterson have joined Judy Blume, Sarah J. Maas, Eric Carle and Kurt Vonnegut on a mind-boggling list of hundreds of books purged from some Tennessee school libraries.

    • @Airowird@lemm.ee
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      15218 days ago

      Can’t have cartoons about questioning authority,those 8y olds might get ideas!

    • @dhork@lemmy.world
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      18 days ago

      These people are going after anything that might imply nudity at all. I seem to remember Calvin had an immense hatred of baths. So once his mom finally got him in, poof, that now has to go, because he’s naked under all that water.

      I’m surprised they don’t just ban all visual art that depicts humans, since everyone is naked under their clothes.

      • I Cast Fist
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        3018 days ago

        A small kid asking for a porn movie??? BAN THAT SHIT!!!

        Calling satanic powers?? JESUS FUCKING CHRIST BAN THIS HERETICAL SHIT!!!

        • @Zahille7@lemmy.world
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          2018 days ago

          I always loved Calvin’s snowman hijinks. And Spaceman Spiff. And all the “I’M HOOoooOOOOooome!”

      • @pelespirit@sh.itjust.works
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        1718 days ago

        I don’t think that’s it. It’s named after philosophers, the people banning aren’t always stupid. I bet Calvin seems like a left wing propagandist to them too.

        • @dhork@lemmy.world
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          2418 days ago

          You’re not wrong, in general. But in this specific case, in Tennessee, it’s specifically about the nudity.

          Any materials that “in whole or in part” contain any “nudity, or descriptions or depictions of sexual excitement, sexual conduct, excess violence, or sadomasochistic abuse” are inappropriate for all students and do not belong in a school library.

          It’s “nudity” of any type, which puts the Venus de Milo in the same category as Brazzers.

            • @Hazor@lemmy.world
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              317 days ago

              They were raised to be terrified of it, and so they raise their kids to be terrified of it, and the cycle perpetuates. It’s hard to break. The reasoning is usually that seeing nudity will tempt them to sin. As someone who abandoned his puritanical upbringing nearly 20 years ago, I still have a hard time just being ok with human bodies - even after being a nurse for some years, I’m still not entirely desensitized to nudity.

          • @ouRKaoS@lemmy.today
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            617 days ago

            So the Bible is inappropriate for all students and there’s several parents I need to report…

          • @Krauerking@lemy.lol
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            618 days ago

            I was about to jump in and defend the heck out of Shel Silverstein but it’s based on a broad sweeping nudity ban?

            That’s fair. That man was an accidental children’s book author and the best kind of weirdo.
            The ban is dumb but his inclusion less so.

            • lemonaz
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              318 days ago

              I said before but my guess is that with Shel they saw the title “A Boy Named Sue” and automatically banned him.

      • @Zahille7@lemmy.world
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        518 days ago

        Geez… God forbid there’s a copious amount of bubbles or something covering anything if Calvin ever does jump back out of the bath

    • @tnarg42@lemmy.world
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      2118 days ago

      I have the “Complete Collection” box set, and I broke my 10 year-old son’s heart when, after he finished the whole thing, I had to tell him that there were no more. I think they made him a better kid.

    • @HotsauceHurricane@lemmy.world
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      1518 days ago

      An inquisitive young kid with a strong imagination and who asks lots if questions is rarely seen by adults in power as a positive influence.

    • BarqsHasBite
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      1018 days ago

      Promotes the radical environmentalism ideology and the war on cars biking!

  • @Krauerking@lemy.lol
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    4018 days ago

    children’s poet Shel Silverstein

    What? Is that the same Shel Silverstein as 2 time Grammy winning, Johnny Cash swongwriter, Academy awards and Golden Globe nominee, and Playboy Cartoonist, also prolific one act playwright, Shel Silverstein?

    The answer is yes.
    I just think he needs someone to shout out his other works in here in case you didn’t know.

    • lemonaz
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      1418 days ago

      I’m 1000% sure they banned Shel because of “A Boy Named Sue” which they probably thought was about trans kids.

      • @Krauerking@lemy.lol
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        718 days ago

        Hard KeK and quite possibly the right answer.
        I figured it was Tatooin Ruth who literally is nude except for his tattoos or all the other butts he drew in his comics.

        • @ArcaneSlime@lemmy.dbzer0.com
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          17 days ago

          Tbf if many here heard his album Fuck 'em they’d want to cancel him too lol. I Love My Right Hand is one of the most tame songs on it, There’s No One I Hate is a wild one.

          Pretty funny album though, if you can get past that sort of thing.

  • Optional
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    2718 days ago

    Damn, Tennessee right wing. Y’all some backwards-ass motherfuckers.

  • @SnarkoPolo@lemmy.world
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    2418 days ago

    Restrict the kinds of ideas children can learn about, and you get evangelical MAGAs. Dictatorships always restrict information.

  • don
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    1418 days ago

    Making sure those kids have play-dough brains.

  • @wolframhydroxide@sh.itjust.works
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    17 days ago

    Did no one else clock that GRAY’S ANATOMY is in that picture? The fuck?

    The foremost anatomical textbook, so well-devised and illustrated that it is still in use today?

    Well, let’s hope that nobody’s trying to teach anatomy in those schools, because even pictures of the _dissected musculature of the pubic area is sufficient to result in a ban

    Also, it seems we’re ignoring the fact that every single book touching on ANY kind of mythology or history of the ancient world is being banned.

    • @bampop@lemmy.world
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      217 days ago

      On the other hand, at least they got rid of The Complete Book of Cats. Absolute filth, I can’t believe they let kids read that

  • @jsomae@lemmy.ml
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    18 days ago

    I can’t empathise with these book banners. If I had a kid, I’d probably be happier with them reading a book by a conservative ideologue than them not reading anything at all.