At first, I was a bit chagrined to see that the Vista San Gabriel Elementary School library in Southern California had banned Clifford the Big Red Dog.
Actually, they've banned three bilingual versions of the book. Which might be a good thing. After all, who knows what dangerous concepts an evil translator might have slipped into the plot. Maybe, in the banned versions, Clifford refuses to become housebroken. Or maybe he barks at cats without provocation. Dastardly, but who knows? It could be true.
Okay. Clifford is probably innocent of wrongdoing, as is Harry Potter, who -- as you might have guessed -- was also banned from the Vista San Gabriel Elementary School library.
But perhaps there's a mitigating factor here. A banned book scores instant visibility. So maybe having your book banned is one of the best book promotion strategies you can employ. At least, that's what I'm telling myself this morning after reading this.
