AUTHOR: Eve Merriam
ISBN: 068980198X
Plot Summary: Silly Halloween poems and art help teach kindergarteners the alphabet.
Complaints: Promotes Satanism
Halloween is of pagan origin and the book is "evil." Challenged at the Douglas County Library in Roseburg, Oreg. (1989) because the book encourages devil worshipping. Challenged at the Howard County, Md. School libraries (1991) because "there should be an effort to tone down Halloween and there should not be books about it in the schools." Challenged in the Wichita, Kans. Public schools (1991) because it is "satanic and disgusting." Challenged at the Acres Green Elementary School in Douglas County, Colo. (1992). Challenged and retained, but will be shelved with other words generally available only to older students and won't be used in future Halloween displays at the Federal Way School District in Seattle, Wash. (1992). The compromise was for a group of parents who objected to the book's satanic references. Challenged, but retained in the Othello, Wash. Elementary school libraries (1993) because the book "promotes violent criminal and deviant behavior." Challenged but retained at the Ennis, Texas Public Library (1993). Challenged in the Cameron Elementary School library in Rice Lake, Wis. (1993). Because the "poems promote satanism, murder, and suicide." The book was retained. Challenged in the Spokane, Wash. School District library (1994) by a father who found the poems morbid and satanic. In particular, the parent disapproved of one poem which "appears to be a chant calling forth the Devil." Challenged in the Sandwich, Mass. Public Library (1995) because it is "too violent for young children."
Solonor Says Ban It Because: 'Trick or treat' is a code phrase for 'Worship Lucifer!'
Links:
ACLU of Washington: Religious Freedom