We All Have Different Families
Artist: Melissa Higgins
Year: 2013
Date of Action: 5/23/13
Region:
Location: Aurora, Illinois
Subject: Sexual/Gender Orientation, Youth
Medium:
Confronting Bodies: Aurora, Illinois school
Description of Artwork: The Family Book, by Todd Parr, is a children’s book about different families and how they are all centered on loving their children.
The Incident: Due to a reference to same-sex parents, one parent in an Illinois school has challenged the novel and requested that it be banned.
In another school in Erie, Illinois, the President of the School Board doesn’t think that the book is appropriate for students in his school district and lead the charge to ban the book. They also removed all materials form the Gay, Lesbian and Straight Education Network (GLSEN) including the Ready, Set, Respect lesson plans created in partnership with the National Association of Elementary School Principals and the National Association for the Education of Young Children.
Results of Incident: The book has been kept, but only in the supplemental curriculum.
Source:
• http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/06/01/the-family-book-todd-parr-banned-illinois-_n_1562989.html