The Librarian of Basra has been challenged a few times over the past couple of years, mostly because of the violence depicted as a result of the war and also religious reasons.
Read for: Banned Book Week & Children's Book Challenge
Synopsis: "Alia Muhammad Baker is a librarian in Basra, Iraq. For fourteen years, her library has been a meeting place for those who love books. Until now. Now war has come, and Alia fears that the library--along with the thirty thousand books within it--will be destroyed forever.
In a war-stricken country where civilians--especially women--have little power, this true story about a librarian's struggle to save her community's priceless collection of books reminds us all how, throughout the world, the love of literature and the respect for knowledge know no boundaries."
My Review: I don't know why but when I originally decided to pick this book up in preparation for Banned Book Week, I wasn't expecting a children's book. With that said it was a great book with a different point of view than we usually see. It also shows the passion and care that librarians will take, it goes above and beyond the job. The pictures were clear and while the frightening parts of war are included, it isn't too terrifying for young readers to see. I will have to look back and see why exactly this book was banned but I don't see any reason for that to have occurred, it is important history and a non-fictional look at an unsung hero.
In a war-stricken country where civilians--especially women--have little power, this true story about a librarian's struggle to save her community's priceless collection of books reminds us all how, throughout the world, the love of literature and the respect for knowledge know no boundaries."
My Review: I don't know why but when I originally decided to pick this book up in preparation for Banned Book Week, I wasn't expecting a children's book. With that said it was a great book with a different point of view than we usually see. It also shows the passion and care that librarians will take, it goes above and beyond the job. The pictures were clear and while the frightening parts of war are included, it isn't too terrifying for young readers to see. I will have to look back and see why exactly this book was banned but I don't see any reason for that to have occurred, it is important history and a non-fictional look at an unsung hero.
My Rating: I appreciate getting different view points for events in our history, especially for young readers. It is important to educate on all the beliefs and what happened from different sides because otherwise how will we learn from past mistakes? I rather enjoyed this little book and give it a rating of Three Paws and a Stump Wag.
After going back and reviewing the reasons for the challenges, it seems a little crazy, to challenge a book because of the violence of war and differing opinions with religion is against so many of the values we live by today. As I said in my review it is important to see all sides of history to grow, learn and understand the effects of our decisions. Also for the age of kids that are in school where the books are challenged, I can almost guarantee they have seen much worse depictions of violence on TV and video games!
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