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Censorship
Mark I.West
Most discussions of the relationship between censorship and children’s literature focus
on attempts to ban controversial children’s books from libraries, but a recounting of
such attempts tells only one part of a far larger story. A children’s book can be censored
in many different ways. Even before its actual publication, a book can be subjected to
censorship pressures. A cautious editor may require that potentially controversial
passages be deleted from the book before clearing it for publication. Sometimes further
deletions are made by the publisher of the paperback edition, especially if the paperback
publisher markets books through the schools. Once a book is in print, efforts may be
made to restrict children’s access to it. These efforts can include banning it from
libraries, but there are other ways that restrictions can be imposed. A parent group may
pressure their local bookstore not to sell it, or a worried librarian may not allow children
to check it out without parental permission. A school principal may prohibit teachers
from using it in the classroom, or a religious organisation may instruct its members not
to allow their children to read it.
Just as the censorship of children’s literature takes many forms, there are numerous
reasons why some adults try to censor certain children’s books. For many would-be
censors, their religious beliefs lead them to call for the censorship of children’s books
that, in their view, are sinful or that conflict with the precepts of their religion. Other
would-be censors are motivated by political concerns. Some conservatives advocate the
censorship of children’s books that do not conform to their conception of ‘family values’,
while some liberals support the censorship of children’s books that they view as being
racist or sexist. Often censorship cases are initiated by adults who feel strongly about
one particular issue. A mother who believes that children should eat nothing but health
foods, for example, may call for the censorship of a children’s book that features cake
and candy, or an advocate of the rights of small people might seek to censor children’s
books that present dwarfs in a negative light. Given the diverse reasons behind the
censorship of children’s literature, no overarching generalisations can be applied to
every censorship case involving a children’s book. Nevertheless, if these cases are viewed
from a historical perspective, discernible patterns emerge.
Many of the early efforts to censor children’s literature were tied to the growing
acceptance of the idea of childhood innocence. Jean-Jacques Rousseau, one of the
earliest proponents of this idea, presented his views on the subject in his book Emile,
which first appeared in print in 1762. ‘Let us lay down as an incontrovertible rule’,
Rousseau wrote, ‘that the first impulses of nature are always right; there is no original