Tomorrow starts an annual event that all libraries should celebrate: Banned Books Week. In 1982, a group of people noticed an alarming number of books that were being banned or challenged and began a nationwide movement that is delightfully contrary: the celebration of banned and challenged books. Thus began Banned Books Week, a non-profit organization … Continue reading Don’t Read This!! A Saturdays @ the South primer on Banned Books Week.→
Growing up, Sylvester and the Magic Pebble was one of my favorite books, so it is with enormous pleasure that we at the Free For All celebrate it’s author, William Steig, who was born this day in 1907. Steig was the child of two Polish-Jewish immigrants from Austria; his father Joseph was a house painter, and his … Continue reading Happy Birthday, William Steig!→
And a very happy Free For All birthday wish to Hans Fallada! You might not have heard of Hans Fallada. That’s ok. His work fell into general obscurity over the second half of the twentieth century. However, the grand and glorious people at the Melville House Press (whose blog is very nearly almost as terrific … Continue reading Five Book Friday!→
The Library is closed today, beloved patrons, in honor of Veteran’s Day. As we mentioned before, the origins of the holiday are rooted in the armistice that ended hostilities on the western front during the First World War, on November 11, 1918. Generally speaking, the United States’ involvement in the First World War was quite an … Continue reading A Commemorative Five Book Friday→
This past week, various social media channels exploded over a controversy about the representation of marginalized children in literature. Some were saying that there are plenty of books out there about diversity, while many others decried that, despite what is out there already, there are not nearly enough. I won’t reproduce the arguments or participants here, … Continue reading Saturdays @ the South: Diversity in Books→
Today is the last day of Banned Books Week, which we’ve been celebrating here on the blog daily, in various ways and from various perspectives because it is a broad topic to consider. You would think that since the South kicked off the Banned Books Week-bonanza last week that I would have something to say … Continue reading Saturdays @ the South: Comfort Reads→
Sometimes it seems to me that the world is comprised of two types of readers: those who re-read their favorite books and those who don’t. Typically, children are big fans of re-reading. My mom assures me that both my brother and I insisted she read The Monster at the End of this Book by Jon Stone over and … Continue reading Wednesdays @ West: In praise of re-reading→
"Once you learn to read, you will be forever free." ~Frederick Douglass
