Does Fantasy and Fantasizing Harm Children?

Image by Jesse Millan with CC License

Some people think so. And they want to keep certain books out of the hands of children.

Banned Books Week (BBW) is "an annual event celebrating the freedom to read and the importance of the First Amendment." This year  Banned Books Week will be held September 30 - October 6, 2012. You can read more about banned and challenged books on the ALA site and check out the Frequently Challenged Books of recent years and why.)

Many contemporary realistic fiction books are banned and challenged for mature content and age-appropriateness. You can see the reasons on the ALA site. 

However, in addition, fantasies such as J. K. Rowlings's Harry Potter, Madeliene L'Engle's A Wrinkle in Time and Lois Lowry's The Giver have been the frequent object of censorship attempts. 

Have you read any of these books? Why do you think fantasy books like these tend to be the objects of censorship? When you visit the links above about banned and challenged books, make a note of the aspects of the books that are objected to. 

Can you add any other aspects from your own experience that would make you want to “ban” a book?

Is fantasizing harmful to children? Why or why not?

If you want to include these and similar titles of fantasy and science fiction in your classroom how will you address parental concerns? 


Is Banned Books Week something you would (or do) celebrate in your classroom?

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Much of this Talk Point is from Charlotte Huck's Children's Literature by Barbara Z. Kiefer, 2010, tenth edition.