„Die Worte waren gefährlich.“ Seit Menschen ihre Meinung schriftlich äußern, gibt es Machthaber, denen es gelungen ist, diese Gedanken zu zensieren – oder dafür zu sorgen, dass sie gar nicht erst gedruckt werden. In diesem zeitgemäßen und provokanten Gleichnis wird ein Buch zunächst redigiert und dann aus einer Bibliothek entfernt. Diese provokante Geschichte des preisgekrönten Autors Jonah Winter wird immer mehr von der Zensur geschwärzt und hinterlässt eine kraftvolle Botschaft über die Auswirkungen der Zensur. Die stimmungsvolle und kraftvolle Kunst des preisgekrönten Künstlers Gary Kelley gibt einen gewichtigen Ton an und schildert die Emotionen der Leser, der Zensoren, des empörten Bibliothekars und der fragenden Studenten. Was wird aus einem verbotenen Buch? Ist es letztlich nur als Deponiefutter sinnvoll? Banned Book wird Diskussionen mit Schülern ab der Mittelstufe anregen, die mit einer Situation konfrontiert werden, die in unserer Zeit allzu häufig vorkommt.
Censor bars gradually fill the pages of this bleak, self-referential exploration of book banning. Following a classic fairy tale opening, a pointed voice recounts the tale of a work—subject redacted—in which “words had been blacked out/ by people who believed the words/ were dangerous.” Unraveling the events of the censorship, the narrator places the blame with a group dubbed “ ‘We Are Right’ (or: ‘WAR’).” The group shows up at a school board meeting, a librarian is silenced, and the book ends up in the trash, to be forgotten for good. Throughout, asterisks point to flimsy justification for the redactions (“These words are not allowed”). Shadows and dusty hues lend Kelley’s chalky geometric artwork an ominous quality that echoes the tone of endangerment summoned by Winter throughout this stark portrayal. Human characters are portrayed with various skin tones.
–Publishers Weekly, 09/08/2023
The uptick in picture books about books being banned this year has been notable. Not that there have been all THAT many, but I’ve noted more than a few. There was The Great Banned Books Bake Sale by Aya Khalil, illustrated by Anait Semirdzhyan and This Book Is Banned by Raj Haldar, illustrated by Julia Patton. Those were interesting but pretty straightforward picture books overall. This latest from Winter & Kelley is a bit different. I found it particularly interesting since this is definitely the first time Winter has ever worked with the publisher known as The Creative Company. Kelley, for his part, is a very specific kind of illustrator, and here he’s pulling out his full inner-European for the art. The whole trick to this book is that as you read it more and more of its words are blacked out. Eventually so many blacked out blocks of text fill the page that you begin to realize that if you read the words that have not been blacked, you start to find an entirely new story there. But what about the art? Everyone loves a cool concept, but how the heck do you illustrate it? Never fear. Kelley’s art opts for an interesting combination of realistic and surreal. I liken them to WPA paintings of the Depression Era, except with a bit of a dada twist. You get a hint of that from the cover certainly. It’s making a gigantic point rather than a coherent story, but considering the truly peculiar way in which it’s doling out its material, you kind of respect it. Definitely a title for older child readers, that’s for sure. Definitely unconventional.
–Betsy Bird, Fuse #8 (31 Days, 31 Lists: 2023 Unconventional Children's Books), 12/17/2023
For the same age group, “Banned Book” (Creative Editions, 32 pages, $18.99) radiates akind of cold fury. Gary Kelley’s social-realistic artwork, combined with Jonah Winter’s text—dramatically redacted, with words blacked out as if by a government censor—combine topresent a picture of absolute evil in the motives of anyone who wishes to limit access to anyAppeared in the December 30, 2023, print edition. book, for any reason. One passage reads: “[They] claim that they only want to protect children, when what they really want is power over everyone, because they don’t believe other people have the right to think for themselves.”
–Meghan Cox Gurdon, Wall Street Journal, 12/28/2023