Heroes Fight Book Bans for Their Kids' Freedom to Read and Think for Themselves
- Allan Shedlin
- Oct 8
- 5 min read
Updated: Oct 9
A Banned Books Week 2025 Reminder
By Scott Beller
Daddying Editor
"Ideas—written ideas—are special. They are the way we transmit our stories and our thoughts from one generation to the next. If we lose them, we lose our shared history. We lose much of what makes us human. And fiction gives us empathy: it puts us inside the minds of other people, gives us the gift of seeing the world through their eyes. Fiction is a lie that tells us the true things, over and over."
– Fahrenheit 451, by Ray Bradbury
According to literary freedom advocate PEN America, 22,810 books have been banned in U.S. schools since 2021. And as predicted, last November's election has, among other unconstitutional things, only helped to boost these groundless efforts. As I begin compiling this year's 6th annual Books to Read with Your Kids Holiday Gift Guide for posting next month, I am compelled to check in with a quick Banned Books Week post. Unfortunately, the fight for our kids' freedom to read, learn, and think for themselves continues in 2025... almost 72 years to the day after Bradbury's Fahrenheit 451 was published (October 19, 1953).
I will begin and end by sharing an excerpt from last year's holiday books post because our message remains the same. That 2024 banned-book-filled Gift Guide also includes many great reads for your timely reference while you wait for our next generous serving of Daddying book recommendations this Thanksgiving:
I assembled the 2nd annual books gift guide for Daddying [in 2021, the first year we began including/highlighting banned titles in our gift guide] with the driving message that reading to and with your kids is essential for many reasons, but especially because it opens everyone's mind:
Basically, as a parent, I see it as my responsibility to help my kids understand the world around them – beautiful, exciting, messy, and dangerous as it may be. As they get older and become more independent, I want them to be able to make good decisions and navigate their lives safely and with open minds. And just as important, I want them to empathize with how other people experience that same world and, if needed and appropriate, to offer a helping hand.
Now here we are on the threshold of 2025, many of us and our neighbors staring into a political abyss with that message echoing ever louder. But standing in the way of this ideal are more screens and fewer books. More social media, less physical media. More books banned, fewer libraries appreciated. More rewriting history, less free speech. More hate, less empathy. So, what do we do now?
Well, in our small daddying corner of this chaotic world, we write.
This week, as we've done this time of year for the past five years, we write about the power and connection kids and parents can derive from sharing, reading, discussing, recommending, and gifting books. Books that not only entertain, educate, and energize kids' imaginations, but also stretch their minds and prompt new questions. Books that explore new approaches to solving tough problems. Books that help us see the world through another's eyes. Some consider that last bit as dangerous and worthy of censor. I disagree. So does PEN America, EveryLibrary, First Book, and Free Library of Philadelphia.
And so does my friend, devoted Dad, and superhero in the fight against book bans, Brad Meltzer. At least two books from his Ordinary People Change the World/I Am series have been targeted by book banners: I Am Rosa Parks and I Am Martin Luther King Jr.. And this year, we're extremely thankful that he's generously agreed to offer his "dangerous" kids books for our holiday giveaway like he has for the past three years. Thanks again, Brad!
EDITOR'S NOTE: Many books on our [2024] list, including major award winners, have been banned at some point in the past, are currently banned in at least one school district in the U.S., or are actively being targeted by anti-civil rights, pro-censorship, and other repressive groups in an attempt to have them banned from school libraries, classrooms, public libraries, and even bookstores in communities across the United States.
Targeted/banned books below are denoted with asterisks* and are categorized according to publisher/booksellers' suggested age groups. When you deem them age-appropriate for your own children, we wholeheartedly recommend you read and discuss them together, over and over again. And here's one specific recommended read for parents who are just as concerned about censorship and stifling ideas as we are here at the Daddying blog:
They Came for the Schools: One Town's Fight Over Race and Identity, and the New War for America's Classrooms by Mike Hixenbaugh
Where possible, we've linked to books for purchase either from the author/publisher or from an independent online bookseller, like Powell's and BookShop.org. None of the links to purchase books from the Guide are affiliate links, i.e., DCG/Daddying blog is not compensated for clicks, so, please, shop away to support indie bookstores!
Thanks to all our authors who, like Brad, have provided books for our giveaway. We greatly appreciate your generosity during this season of giving. Happy holidays and thoughtful shopping to you and yours – keep READING and Daddy on!
READ FULL 2024 POST and check out the 2024 Holiday Books Gift Guide included HERE: "For the Love of Reading with Our Kids...and Brad Meltzer"
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And, finally, in honor of one of the world's greatest humanitarians, educators, and defenders of our natural world, Jane Goodall, who just passed away October 1st, I'll share one of the images from that 2024 post below. May she rest in peace and may her influence and brilliance continue make positive impacts for generations to come:
Daddying Film Festival & FORUM 2026
Fifty+ countries and counting! The 5th annual Daddying Film Festival & Forum (D3F) welcomes film and video submissions, including TikToks and Instagram reels, from students (3rd-graders through undergrads), Dads/Granddads, Dad figures, and indie filmmakers worldwide! Submit videos/films on D3F's FilmFreeway page through Monday, December 8. Celebrate the importance of involved Dads and send us your stories!
Send us your Daddying films & videos and celebrate D3F's 5th Anniversary on Eventive this January 9-15, 2026, and LIVE at American University, January 30-31st!
Scott Beller is the proud, imperfect crew Dad of two teen, mighty girls, imperfect partner of their rock-star mom/regatta chaperone, a truth teller, purveyor of banned books, former youth soccer and basketball championship coach, part-time driving instructor, late-night filmgoer, Editor of the Daddying blog, and Director of Communications for DCG and the Daddying Film Festival & Forum (D3F). He's a seasoned writer and PR agency veteran with more than 35 years of experience helping individuals and organizations of all sizes reach audiences and tell their stories. Prior to launching his own creative communications consultancy in 2003, he led PR teams with some of the world’s most respected agencies, including Fleishman-Hillard and The Weber Group. As a consultant, he’s helped launch two other parenting advocacy nonprofits with DCG founder Allan Shedlin, REEL Fathers and Dads Unlimited. His first book, Beggars or Angels, was a ghostwritten memoir for the nonprofit Devotion to Children's founder Rosemary Tran Lauer. He is formerly known as "Imperfect Dad" and Head Writer/Editor for the Raising Nerd blog, which supports parents in inspiring the next generation of scientists, engineers, and creative problem solvers. He earned his BA in Communications from VA Tech so many years ago. You can follow him on Instagram and BlueSky!
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