Monday, April 20, 2009

Be A Rebel. Read Banned Books.

During the course of every year, I have my students gain a little understanding of the whole concept of a book being "challenged" or "banned" by people, a school, or even a government. In different years, I have used different approaches-- but I always want them to walk away with an understanding of the injustice of banning books.
(A quick aside- I do believe that there are certain books that are more appropriate for certain ages and shouldn't be in Media Centers of certain schools- but I don't think that's the same thing as banning it).

This year we read Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury- it was intense- and took FOREVER. But, the pay off was so worth it. My kids loved it. They had a hard time, but when they got it, they GOT IT.
One of the major themes throughout the novel is the idea that making everyone happy- and offending no one- only makes us dumber. Everyone's not going to be happy. Everyone's not going to be able to enjoy the comfort of not being offended. It's such a good book. If you somehow slipped through your education without reading, I'm going to highly suggest that you get on it.

All of that to say this...
I want this bracelet.It's SO cute! AND it's a collection of commonly banned books- like F451. So cool!
It's from Carolyn Forsman- very cute. Her line is called "Conversation Piece Jewelty"-- love it!!
A lot of other cute things, but this is my favorite for sure!

1 comment:

carolynforsman said...

why thank you ! we have prototypes of banned books pins too. on my site soon. free shipping at $49 carolyn