Banned Books Video Advent Calendar

Today is first of December, so numerous advent calendars and count downs to Christmas have started. I was pleasantly surprised when I got a notice from Banned Books Week on Facebook that announced a Banned Book Advent Calendar. True it’s no longer the last week in September when banned books are celebrated, but the freedom to read should be celebrated all year. The intellectual freedom group FAIFE (Freedom of Access to Information and Freedom of Expression) is posting a small video about censorship and banned books every day until Christmas. Here is information from their website:

The project’s participants include leading figures in the library world, who introduce their favourite banned books: Finnish IFLA President-Elect Sinikka Sipilä presents Mika Waltari’s The Egyptian, Kai Ekholm introduces Allen Ginsberg’s Howl and Executive Director Jill Cousins of the Europeana Foundation expounds on James Joyce’s Ulysses. Other books include Art Spiegelman’s Maus, Hitler’s Mein Kampf, Boccaccio’s Decameron and Walt Disney’s Donald Duck.

http://vimeo.com/channels/bannedbooks

 

 

Book Review: Say Something

Say Something

by Peggy Moss, illustrated by Lea Lyon

Ages 6-8, 32 pages

Realistic Fiction

There are many forms of bullying and one aspect is the bystander who doesn’t say or do anything about it. Say Something follows the viewpoint of a girl who notices students being teased, pushed, and called names but she doesn’t say anything. She moves to the other side of the hall or sits away where others are being bullied, yet the teasing still continues. One day she’s forced to sit alone at lunch and students laugh with her, but then she realizes that the jokes are about her and starts crying. When the students leave she notices that students she knows were nearby, but didn’t say anything. She explains to her brother that she’s upset at the kids at the table. He responds back “Why? They didn’t do anything.” The next day, the girl starts a conversation with a girl who others teased and discovers she’s quite funny. The book’s conclusion is brief, so there can more discussion about what happened to other students. The book provides details about how you can make a difference when you see someone being teased. Say Something won the Teacher’s Choice Award in 2005.

One person speaking up makes more noise than a thousand people who remain silent.

- Thom Harnett (Civil Rights Attorney)