Inner City Mother Goose Pulled from Shelf

A Story on how the Whitney Point Central School District (NY) has removed Inner City Mother Goose by Eve Merriam from its middle school library after a parent complained about its language and content.
The book, The Inner City Mother Goose by Eve Merriam, updates Mother Goose rhymes to make satirical comments on street violence, housing inadequacies, crime and other problems plaguing inner cities.

A Story on how the Whitney Point Central School District (NY) has removed Inner City Mother Goose by Eve Merriam from its middle school library after a parent complained about its language and content.
The book, The Inner City Mother Goose by Eve Merriam, updates Mother Goose rhymes to make satirical comments on street violence, housing inadequacies, crime and other problems plaguing inner cities.
A school district committee, including middle school Principal David Wasser and the school librarian, decided to take the book off the shelves, said Whitney Point Superintendent Dale S. Schumacher. \”I\’m not saying this is a bad author or a bad book, but it\’s not appropriate for the middle school age group,\” Schumacher said.


Whitney Point\’s decision was sharply criticized by Merriam\’s son, Dee Michel, a former assistant professor at the School of Library Studies at the University of Wisconsin. If parents feel the book is inappropriate for their children, that\’s their decision, but the school district should not ban it for all students, Michel said.