Banned for What?! Some of the Most Absurd Reasons for Book Challenges

Banned Books Week is here (Oct. 5–11), an event sponsored by the American Library Association (ALA) in response to the ever-increasing challenges libraries face today, as more and more people demand that certain books be removed from shelves. A large number of book ban requests today attempt to silence BIPOC and LGBTQ+ voices specifically, a troubling and dangerous trend that can make these vital stories unavailable to the readers who need them most.

It’s fitting that the ALA selected George Orwell’s 1984 as the theme for the 2025 Banned Books Week: “Censorship Is So 1984. Read for Your Rights.” As the ALA notes, “With the escalation in attempts to ban books in libraries, schools, and bookstores around the country, George Orwell’s cautionary tale 1984 serves as a prescient warning about the dangers of censorship. This year’s theme reminds us that the right to read belongs to all of us, that censorship has no place in contemporary society, and that we must defend our rights.”

EveryLibrary believes that book bans have no place in our society and stands with the ALA in defending the rights of readers everywhere.

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But seriously, folks . . .

While many book challenges are based on fairly serious accusations (pornography, etc.), others are—well—ridiculous. Who knows what lurks in the minds of the humans who came up with them? No doubt they felt justified, but one has to wonder whether they really thought through their reasoning. What follows is not an April Fool’s joke, but an actual list of book ban requests and the (utterly ridiculous) reasons behind them.

1. Sea Horse: The Shyest Fish in the Sea by Chris Butterworth

This book is too sexy! In Williamson County, TN, Sea Horse: The Shyest Fish in the Sea was deemed salacious because of an illustration of sea horses hugging. Obviously, no one wants their young children exposed to that.

2. The Day the Crayons Quit by Drew Daywalt

Naked crayons! The Katy Independent School District in Texas banned The Day the Crayons Quit because one of the crayons is shown without its paper wrapper—that’s nudity! Clearly, children should not be exposed to crayons behaving as if they’re at a nudist resort!

3. Red: A Crayon’s Story by Michael Hall

Let’s not let multiple layers of meaning get in the way of an anti-LGBTQ+ stance. Parents in the Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools in North Carolina banned Red: A Crayon’s Story, claiming it promotes transgender themes or gender identity issues. Now, maybe it does—and maybe students who are beginning to explore their own gender identities could benefit from reading it. But beyond that, what about kids who have unique traits of any kind? Reading a book that celebrates and supports differences could help them feel seen, too.

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4. Harold and the Purple Crayon by Crockett Johnson

Children might become vandals! Or at least that’s the theory behind why one long-enduring children’s classic, Harold and the Purple Crayon, has faced calls for being banned. Because goodness knows, every time a child reads a book, they take it literally and immediately decide to act it out. It’s not as if children have good imaginations or can unconsciously understand metaphors or anything, right? Heck, maybe a parent or teacher could read it with them and talk about Harold’s creativity in a positive way that could, for example, not promote vandalism.

5. Charlotte’s Web by E. B. White

The last thing people should want for their children is to expand both their imagination and innate empathy, which must be why Charlotte’s Web was banned in Kansas in 2006. Some parents considered the concept of talking animals blasphemous and unnatural (they must have been apoplectic about the Muppets and Sesame Street).

Other parents were concerned that the spider’s death was inappropriate for a children’s book. If it were the case that children are spared having to deal with death until they’ve fully matured into adults, that might make sense. But since that’s far from reality, it could be argued that Charlotte’s Web provides a safe way to introduce the topic to kids and open up conversation about something everyone has to face at some point or another.

6. The Wonderful Wizard of Oz by L. Frank Baum

Lest anyone think book banning is a recent trend, let’s go back to 1928, when The Wonderful Wizard of Oz was banned by public libraries for depicting women in strong leadership roles. That was controversial in the early twentieth century—and arguably still is today.

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7. Brown Bear, Brown Bear, What Do You See? by Bill Martin Jr.

In the category of “It pays to do your research before demanding something,” the children’s classic Brown Bear, Brown Bear, What Do You See? was briefly banned by the Texas State Board of Education—not for its content, but because the author’s name (Bill Martin) is the same as a Marxist theorist. A quick bit of homework—much like the kind schoolkids are expected to learn how to do—could have prevented this embarrassing public spectacle.

8. The Lorax by Dr. Seuss

Last time we checked, free speech was still a thing in the US. But that didn’t stop the logging industry from trying to get Dr. Seuss’s The Lorax banned because they were upset by the book’s anti-deforesting plot line.

9. A Light in the Attic by Shel Silverstein

Let’s face it—kids love humor, the sillier the better. Hopefully, they’ll see the humor in the great children’s humorist, Shel Silverstein, having his book A Light in the Attic banned because of a poem that portrays children breaking dishes rather than having to dry them. It seems likely that young readers would largely get the joke that the adults around them missed entirely.

These are just some of the absurd reasons given for banning books. As noted earlier, there are also terribly serious reasons, including those that try to silence BIPOC and LGBTQ+ voices. Either way, it’s vital to challenge and stop book bans. One way to take action is by signing EveryLibrary’s ongoing petition to end book bans in the US. Then check with your local libraries to see what challenges they’re facing and what you can do to help them fight back.

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