Read Banned Books! It's Banned Books Week September 26-October 3...

The American Library Association Banned Books Week is going on now. Here's a bit from their blog about this week dedicated to "celebrating the freedom to read":

Banned Books Week (BBW) is an annual event celebrating the freedom to read and the importance of the First Amendment. Held during the last week of September, Banned Books Week highlights the benefits of free and open access to information while drawing attention to the harms of censorship by spotlighting actual or attempted bannings of books across the United States.

Intellectual freedom—the freedom to access information and express ideas, even if the information and ideas might be considered unorthodox or unpopular—provides the foundation for Banned Books Week. BBW stresses the importance of ensuring the availability of unorthodox or unpopular viewpoints for all who wish to read and access them.

Click here for an Amazon list of banned books for young readers. (And if you stop by my house this evening you can enjoy a read-aloud of Captain Underpants which will never be banned in my house. Then maybe you can explain to me why people have a problem with a little poo humor.)

Awards, Awards, Awards!...

Today's the big day for ALA: Awards day. Here's a link to Publishers Weekly's rundown of all the winners (Caldecott, Newbery, Printz, etc.).

And Here are covers of a few of the winning titles (click on them to view Amazon's listing for the books).