Banned Books Week Trivia - Round 1

1. 1. This famous children's book was banned in America because talking animals were seen to be ungodly.

• Charlotte’s Web by E.B White

• Wind in the Willows by Kenneth Grahame

• Watership Down by Richard Adams

2. 2. This series of illustrated books for grade schoolers has often been challenged and banned by those who find that it is unsuited for its intended age audience, and that it encourages children to disobey authority. The hero of the books is actually a hypnotized adult, Mr. Krupp, and the boys who are responsible are George and Harold.

• The Bad Guys by Aaron Blabey

• Lunch Lady by Jarrett J. Kosoczka

• Captain Underpants by Dav Pilkey

3. 3. This series of books that are enjoyed by all ages and are the basis for some of the most popular films of all time have been banned for promoting witchcraft, setting bad examples for youth, and for being “too dark.” Although most of the bans have since been overturned, there are still schools and libraries where these books and films are not welcome.  

• Artemis Fowl by Eoin Colfer

• Harry Potter by J.K Rowling

• Chronicles of Narnia by C.S. Lewis

4. 4. This beloved classic novel and movie is the story of growing up in a southern town in the 1930s and the trial of a black man accused of attacking a white girl. It is one of the most banned books in American history for “offensive language and racism,” but it won the Pulitzer Prize in 1961.  It was removed from the Biloxi Public School District’s middle school curriculum in 2017 after complaints about its “uncomfortable” subject matter.

• Adventures of Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain

• Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury

• To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee

5. 5. Would you believe even Doctor Seuss books have been banned? Which book was banned because it offended forestry workers?

• The Cat in the Hat

• The Lorax

• How the Grinch Stole Christmas

6. 6. This diary is a record of events spanning the years 1942 to 1944 during the Second World War. It was banned for being "a real downer"?

• Memoirs of the Second World War by Winston Churchill

• Schindler’s List by Thomas Keneally

• A Diary of a Young Girl by Anne Frank

7. 7. Which famous American author wrote two related books about the adventures of a couple of young boys? The books were banned after their initial publication for being "too racially tolerant." Nowadays, they are accused of being "too racist."

• Mark Twain

• Ernest Hemingway

• Harriet Beecher Stowe

8. 8. This author won both a Pulitzer Prize and a Novel Prize for Literature for his works. However, his Pulitzer prize-winning book was banned for blasphemy and vulgarity: "The book uses the name of God and Jesus in a vain and profane manner along with inappropriate sexual references." Who is this author?

• Truman Capote

• Nathaniel Hawthorne

• John Steinbeck

9. 9. This book was banned for being anti-religious.

• Lord of the Rings by J.R.R. Tolkien

• The Wizard of OZ by L. Frank Baum

• The Once and Future King by T.H. White

10. 10. What classic novel was challenged in 1981 for being “demoralizing inasmuch as it implies that man is little more than an animal”?

• The Lord of the Flies by William Golding

• Animal Farm by George Orwell

• Brave New World by Aldous Huxley