Anonymous Patron writes “Local10.com: A group made up of Cuban exile organizations and community leaders held a news conference Wednesday in support of the removal of a children’s book about Cuba from public school libraries.
The Miami-Dade School Board agreed with complaints about the book “Vamos a Cuba” and voted in favor of banning it and 23 other books in the children’s travel series on June 14. That decision was made despite recommendations by a review committee and Superintendent Rudy Crew to keep the book on the shelves.”
This is a bigger question.
I assume that the book in question is a typical geography/history/country book for kids. I don’t ever remember reading any that cover negative aspects of a country in any detail. These types of books look at the land, the people, the agriculture, the jobs, how kids live, etc. This is what the kids need in order to to do their projects for school.
Should these series tackle the political aspect of a country? For the most part the publishers have avoided controversy because they have remained neutral by not covering those topics at all.
I can forsee a big can of worms should a publisher cover, in a book about Cuba, what these protesters want them to. The library would have to make sure, I would think, that the opposing view also be represented.
I think children should be exposed to injustices in the world. I’m not sure these are the books to do it.