#95 Sylvester and the Magic Pebble by William Steig
Okay, if this is the book about the donkey that turns into a rock until his parents wish him back, it really makes no sense why it is on this list.
I know why this book is on the list, thanks to a book called Pipers at the Gates of Dawn. It's a series of interviews with assorted children's authors--among them, Maurice Sendak, Astrid Lindgren and William Steig. Steig mentioned the controversy over Sylvester, and said it was because of the illustrations.
Sylvester and his parents are donkeys and the police are pigs. Well, this book came out in the 1960s, and the illustrations were interpreted to mean that Steig viewed cops as "pigs" and the general public as jackasses. Steig says that he had no such thing in mind. (Personally, I think that he was most likely subconsciously influenced by myriads of Warner Brothers' cartoons depicting Porky Pig as a cop.)
Anyway, the illustrations were deemed to send an anti-law and anti-societal message. So the book has been banned from many libraries.
no subject
Okay, if this is the book about the donkey that turns into a rock until his parents wish him back, it really makes no sense why it is on this list.
I know why this book is on the list, thanks to a book called Pipers at the Gates of Dawn. It's a series of interviews with assorted children's authors--among them, Maurice Sendak, Astrid Lindgren and William Steig. Steig mentioned the controversy over Sylvester, and said it was because of the illustrations.
Sylvester and his parents are donkeys and the police are pigs. Well, this book came out in the 1960s, and the illustrations were interpreted to mean that Steig viewed cops as "pigs" and the general public as jackasses. Steig says that he had no such thing in mind. (Personally, I think that he was most likely subconsciously influenced by myriads of Warner Brothers' cartoons depicting Porky Pig as a cop.)
Anyway, the illustrations were deemed to send an anti-law and anti-societal message. So the book has been banned from many libraries.
I bet a lot of librarians don't even know why.