Welcome to Banned Books Week on Fairy Layers! While not all of my selections are strictly fairy tale adaptations, I have made an effort to include books with fairy tales themes and tropes. All of the books selected for BBW (September 25th - October 2nd) have been banned or challenged for various reasons. I hope you enjoy!
Today's story is called Sylvester and the Magic Pebble, by William Steig.
This Caldecott winner is the story of a little donkey named Sylvester, who likes to collects stones. One day he finds a stone that turns out to be a magical wishing stone.
Unfortunately, Sylvester runs into a lion, and in a panic, he wishes he were a stone. So the pebble falls out of reach, and Sylvester is stuck as a rock. His mom and dad search for him, but of course he's a rock and they don't know about the wishes. A year passes before Sylvester is saved from his predicament and is reunited with his family. It's a lovely story about wishes and family.
So why was it banned?
Apparently, some people objected to the fact that the characters were portrayed as animals. (Have they seen ANY picture books from the last half-century?) And, even worse, the COPS were all PIGS. *gasp* (Never mind that there are non-cop pigs in the story, too.)
Read banned books!
This book is really cute, I never knew it faced controversy.
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