With One Word, Children’s Book Sets Off Uproar

[nosmokes]

why does the human body scare us so much? and in this case it isn't even a human body,it's the dog's scrotum that got snake bit, FCOL. i'm sick of fairy tales about mythical talking serpents and evil women and magical fruit telling us that knowledge is a bad thing.it's scrotum. half of us have one. deal with it. ok?
--###--


original-NYTimes
February 18, 2007
With One Word, Children’s Book Sets Off Uproar

By JULIE BOSMAN

The word “scrotum” does not often appear in polite conversation. Or children’s literature, for that matter.

Yet there it is on the first page of “The Higher Power of Lucky,” by Susan Patron, this year’s winner of the Newbery Medal, the most prestigious award in children’s literature. The book’s heroine, a scrappy 10-year-old orphan named Lucky Trimble, hears the word through a hole in a wall when another character says he saw a rattlesnake bite his dog, Roy, on the scrotum.

“Scrotum sounded to Lucky like something green that comes up when you have the flu and cough too much,” the book continues. “It sounded medical and secret, but also important.”

The inclusion of the word has shocked some school librarians, who have pledged to ban the book from elementary schools, and reopened the debate over what constitutes acceptable content in children’s books. The controversy was first reported by Publishers Weekly, a trade magazine.

On electronic mailing lists like Librarian.net, dozens of literary blogs and pages on the social-networking site LiveJournal, teachers, authors and school librarians took sides over the book. Librarians from all over the country, including Missoula, Mont.; upstate New York; Central Pennsylvania; and Portland, Ore., weighed in, questioning the role of the librarian when selecting — or censoring, some argued — literature for children.

“This book included what I call a Howard Stern-type shock treatment just to see how far they could push the envelope, but they didn’t have the children in mind,” Dana Nilsson, a teacher and librarian in Durango, Colo., wrote on LM_Net, a mailing list that reaches more than 16,000 school librarians. “How very sad.”

The book has already been banned from school libraries in a handful of states in the South, the West and the Northeast, and librarians in other schools have indicated in the online debate that they may well follow suit. Indeed, the topic has dominated the discussion among librarians since the book was shipped to schools.

Pat Scales, a former chairwoman of the Newbery Award committee, said that declining to stock the book in libraries was nothing short of censorship.






















complete article including links to other sources here

[undeterred]

1. ...simply shocking

[JohnnyLib2]

10. Be careful, John Ashcroft is lookin' for you.

With a fig leaf. :sarcasm: :evilgrin:

[HysteryDiagnosis]

11. My oh my...... what will we tell the puppies?? nt

[undeterred]

13. My dog was neutered the day I adopted him from the pound

so he doesn't mention his scrotum much.

[nosmokes]

16. and you didn't get him neuticles? for shame!

neuticles testicular implants for pets

a pal of mine found these on some right wing nut job site. check out the endorsements from paul harvey and rush limbaugh. apparently you can't be a real man if your dog doesn't at least look like he's still got a set. and kids go hungry, but their dog shall not be nutless. sheesh. talk about a fragile male ego.

[undeterred]

25. dogs really don't care

They adjust to a missing limb with none of the psychological trauma that humans go through. If my dog sees another dog without a limb he might poke his head around and look for it but there's no other reaction. I'm sure a neutered or spayed animal gives a different scent and ends up somewhere different in the dominance hierarchy but neuticles ain't gonna fix that.

[karlrschneider]

29. "My humans really love me...

they stuck a needle in my butt and cut my balls off..."


:D

[ulysses]

60. what was the Far Side cartoon

with the dog in the car teasing the other dog because "I'm going to get tutored!"

:D

[karlrschneider]

76. heehee, I don't think I saw it but that's pretty funny

:-)

[MountainLaurel]

84. That sounds about right

"Tutored" is the official term in my parents' household for taking the dog to the vet for that particular surgery.

[karlrschneider]

27. Gee, I always thought David was Jewish.

...

[Tierra_y_Libertad]

2. Puritanical silliness is still around and turning noses blue.

[villager]

3. Think about supporting "AS IF!" --anti-censhorship group of children's authors:

http://asifnews.blogspot.com/

They're all over this story!

[truedelphi]

83. Thanks for showing a way to do something about this madness n/t

[villager]

89. you are welcome! n/t

[Quixote1818]

4. What the fuck is wrong with saying "Dog Scrotum?"

:crazy:

[frogcycle]

52. other than how repulsive it sounds?

[tuvor]

57. What would you call it, then? "Poochie nad sac"?

I'm all for using the proper terminology.

[Fire Walk With Me]

66. Booji Boy icon! Sweet.

[frogcycle]

71. so am I

just sayin -

"dog scrotum" has a repulsive ring to it. Kind of like "dog breath" or "horses ass" or various other epithets.


next thing you know they'll ban coverage of the Westminster dog show, because they call the females bitches and the judges handle the male's "furry hanging things"

this is funny - and pathetic - beyond mere words

[tuvor]

85. Ah. Gotcha.

I don't think there ARE any pretty terms for male genitalia.

[frogcycle]

86. Not many elegant ones for the other half either

[sandnsea]

5. Excuse me

But why the hell do we NEED a book about a dog scrotum. This is ridiculous and I agree that it was written to shock people. What a complete waste of money, paper and time.

[nosmokes]

6. that must be why it won a newbery award, eh?

i think you're missing the point. the book isn't about a scrotum, dog's or man's. unless of course i'm misssing your sarcasm. in which case i'mfeeling pretty foolish right about now...;)














edited to ccorrect speeling of newbery...

[Clark2008]

12. Would you have rather she have written that the snake bit the dog on the

NUTSACK?

:silly:

Sorry - I find this whole "issue" laughable. My son is probably right about the age of child this book was intended for and HE knows what a scrotum is - because, you know, he has one. :hi:

[Bjornsdotter]

14. I can't believe

...you said that! :rofl:

Good thing I had just put the can of pop down before I read your post.

Cheers


BTW--my son was sent to the office in 1st grade for saying penis. He ask to use the bathroom, the teacher asked why...he said, "because my penis is sticking and I need to fix it".

When I got to the school the principle said he couldn't use that word. so I asked if she preferred "tallywacker" or "one-eyed trouser snake". She said penis was fine. ;)

[TahitiNut]

19. She may have needed more options to choose from.

You may have suggested some ethnically diverse terms like shmekel, Johnson, shmuck, or putz. Or she may have preferred a more cosmopolitan array of choices like leuter, kanki, panais, Schlange, pistone, snabel, kapfer, pica, pito, or snorre. Of course, she might prefer some of the more inventive American euphemisms like beaver cleaver, pork sword, beef bayonet, or Herman the one-eyed German.

It's really a shame to not pay tribute to the aeons-long global effort to avoid saying "penis"!

:rofl:

[Mz Pip]

34. I always learn something new

reading your posts. :rofl:

She really should have gone with beef bayonet.

Having taught 4 and 5th grade there really isn't a word out there that wouldn't have elicited gales of giggling from both the boys and girls. I remember one 2nd grade class I taught where one bou looked up "underwear" in the dictionary. That kept them going for at least a half hour.

Body parts, things next to body parts, things that sound like body parts. All are fair game when you're 10.

Mz Pip
:dem:

[TahitiNut]

46. It's one of the most common motivations for using the dictionary at that age.

After all, they can only get so much mileage out of 'pee pee' and 'wee wee,' right?

I was a precocious kid - with an advanced sense of socialization. In the first grade, Kathy Monaghan and I used to eat our bag lunches together in the bushes ... and compare "plumbing." It's my mother's fault. Having espied her in the nude when I was a pre-schooler, I asked why she didn't have a "pee pee." She explained that boys had "outside plumbing" and girls had "inside plumbing." Well, Kathy was my First Grade Research Assistant. In the Second Grade, I was hers. (I was cut out to become a scientist at an early age.) I'll never forget Kathy. Never.

It wasn't long after that I discovered the unabridged dictionary - and then the library. Motivation. It's important.

:evilgrin:

[Pied Piper]

90. Funny story

I have two nephews who are two years apart. When they were old enough to start taking showers, it was a family affair. My sister and her husband have a huge shower stall in the master bedroom that has two shower heads - perfect for teaching two young boys how to take a shower. One day, the oldest pointed to his mom and said "When are you going to grow a penis out of that black thing?"

My sister decided right then and there that he was now old enough to take showers by himself.

:rofl:

[WinkyDink]

38. Stop it! I'm DYIN' here!

[Monkey see Monkey Do]

56. Brings to mind Eric Idle's "Penis Song"

(probably NSFW)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nGRPFUYUUdQ

[Bjornsdotter]

81. My feelings

...exactly.

I can tell you I still laugh about it....the look on the principal's face was classic. Even better, I live in a very small town and run into the former principal occasionally. She still can't look me in the face and it's been 12 years.

Cheers

[WinkyDink]

36. The teacher asked WHY? She/He deserved a CRUDE answer!

[noamnety]

68. I was wondering the same thing!

Why isn't the administration questioning the teacher about the need to know specifics on bathroom needs?

[Bjornsdotter]

79. Yep

I had that discussion with the teacher. IIRC, it was the last time that teacher would meet me without the principal present.

Cheers

[donco6]

48. The book isn't ABOUT a dog scrotum, fer chrissakes.

That's just one teeny tiny piece of the setup for the story. It would be completely inconsequential but for the fact that she actually used the real honest-to-god word for the body part in question.

[boobooday]

7. God forbid a librarian should choose . . .

A Newbury Award winning book.

If we could only protect our children from words like scrotum, they could all get to heaven.

[Midlodemocrat]

72. Yup. It would have been so much better if they

said that the dog bit him on the balls. :sarcasm:

Because kids who would read this book have NEVER, EVER heard that kind of language on the playground.

:eyes:

[boobooday]

74. Scrotum is actually a vocabulary-expaning word

And like you said, they probably already know every vernacular term for it already, anyway.

[Midlodemocrat]

75. Well, I know my 10yo knows the vernacular because her brother

is constantly saying it when he plays football in the backyard with his buddies. :eyes:

[theoldman]

8. I think that the writer should have known that the word would not

be acceptable in our puritanical nation. Common sense should tell us to watch our language among certain types of people. I don't say Bullshit at church, I say BS.

[kath]

15. Seems pathetic there is such a fuss over a word that is not even a swear word, just an

anatomical term. Jeebus.

[WinkyDink]

40. But if the book won THE award for its genre, then exactly which standard is amiss?

[donco6]

49. Now, think about that a minute.

I really hope you're not implying that we should monitor our language based on Puritanical standards?

I say fuck that.

[ulysses]

61. I like to give kids more credit than that.

Others have provided the "alternatives" to scrotum that the author might have used. :D

[Rex]

9. Pssstt.... SCROTUM!!

:rofl:

[seabeyond]

17. i see no reason for author to chose the dogs "scrotum" as the place

the snake bit. silliness. whatever happens to the book, .... tough. not saying that it isnt kid appropriate, but there was no reason for the author to chose that, except challenging. repercussion of purposely challenging. sometimes you lose. authors bad

[nosmokes]

24. the author herself explains it . it's based on an actual experience and

it is a delicious word. sayit. speak it aloud. it's a fun word. it's a real fun word if you're 10 yo. it's part of that whole discovery phase and it's fun and funny. it's something to be celebrated and enjoyed not locked up and hidden away and have the threat of a ruler cracked over your wrist for reading an award winning book or uttering aword that's a part of your body. it's a part of you, it's not anything to be ashamed of or something that's wrong with you FFS.

[seabeyond]

35. i dont need a lecture on being ashamed or not with body parts. inevitably

if one doesn't go along with something like this on this board, they must have inhibitions of body parts, or saying the words. they MUST be prudes. they must be uptight about sex. i am not. we use the words in our house. specifically to condition the kids to not be embarrassed. and kids are naturally embarrassed. penis, vagina, scrotum's, tit, boobs..... we dont say down there, thing or anything else. we call it like it is.

yes it is a fun word to say. use balls in any sentence with a ten year old boy and watch the giggle. fart, butt with a five your old and you have them in stitches.

and no..... i dont have an issue with this author getting razzin cause she/he CHOSE to use that word in a children's book.

on edit: i am not familiar with this writer. another poster is suggesting this is young adult. from what i read on op i was imagining children book as in 3-7 yrs of age. my children were beyond children books at least by 7, .....

[donco6]

51. Oh, I see.

The book is for grades 4 to 6, which is 9 to 12 year old.

[donco6]

50. Because 10 year old boys are intrigued by their body.

And there's nothing age inappropriate about it.

When I grew up, I used to help ewes deliver lambs - and I was only 8 or so. I knew ALL the body parts - at least on sheep and dogs and cows. Was that inappropriate?

[seabeyond]

53. i grew up on a farm too.... elementary school.... no, they didnt

have to have a book talking about the dogs scrotum. there is no reason for it but to push a line. i assure you i push that line all the time with my children. but it is MY choice with MY kids and not within a school. we are very open in our discussions in this home. we are very open in the material i allow the children to read. this author knew what they were doing and they lost. i am not going to make it a left or right issue, or the prude agains the sexually non inhibited....

there is plenty of opportunity to allow our choices with our children in our home and the schools dont have to play that role any more than they have to play the role of providing god and faith in the schools.

if it is in the middle schools.... fine.

[donco6]

54. Actually, yes it is a school choice.

Many court cases have already ruled that schools may govern their library selections.

But whatever. To each his own.

[SmokingJacket]

18. It's my dream that my kids will learn ALL their anatomy from Newbery

Award winners.

Honestly, it beats the teevee.

[rug]

20. I'll be impressed when Lynn Cheney writes douchebag in her next book.

[me b zola]

32. Only if it's an autobiography

:rofl:

[WinkyDink]

41. Or the biography of her old man.

[CTyankee]

21. Dear god. First it was "vagina" and then "vulva"

we have now progressed to "scrotum." The end of the world is nigh.

Aren't these accurate medical terms for female and male anatomy? Why is anybody in a panic? Our children need to be protected from these accurate medical terms why?

My 3 granddaughters learned about their baby male cousin when they say him diapered. They got the picture and the brief tour of the anatomy. Done.

Next lesson!

P.S. As dear Mr. Rogers used to say, "Some of us are fancy on the inside; some of us are fancy on the outside."

[frogcycle]

88. fancy?

OK, Mr Rogers was good; my daughters loved him. But "fancy?" Anyone who has walked through a men's locker room would come up with a lot of other words before they thought of "fancy". Let's face it - 'taint pretty


When I was in Jr. High I was on football team (well, I got to practice with them and THINK I was on the team). One time there was some sort of flap over some females being in the vicinity when the lockerroom door was open - I forget what, but anyway some players voiced consternation to the coach - he intoned:

"Don't worry guys - if they haven't seen it before, they won't know what it is... and if they HAVE, they won't want to see it again!"

[CTyankee]

91. I like that!

Actually, I think Rogers used "fancy" not as a particular compliment but more as something with more details or aspects. I cerainly think that the human body, particularly within, is very fancy! But I am by nature overly curious...

[peekaloo]

22. Simply nuts!

:hide:

[frogcycle]

37. no, that would have been banned too

:rofl:

[peekaloo]

42. Still there's no need to get testis about this topic!

:hi:

[TahitiNut]

78. I beg your pardon?

:silly:

[LWolf]

23. As a former school library tech,

with half of a masters in library science before deciding to go into the classroom instead,

I'm going to guess that most real school librarians don't want to ban the book. The ALA takes a dim view of book banning, in any kind of library.

Not too many primary or middle school libraries get actual librarians; they are usually reserved for high schools, or for the district office.

Newberry Award winners are closer, in my opinion, to "young adult" than to "children's" literature, anyway.

Having spent a dozen years fighting to keep books on shelves in primary and middle schools, and having seen some unbelievably nonsensical attacks on books, I can believe that "scrotum" would have some up in arms.

Perhaps they'd rather a more colloquial term, lol?

[WindRavenX]

26. PENIS!!!

:hide:

[peekaloo]

28. taint nuttin' to get upset about.

:D

[karlrschneider]

30. LOL

:rofl: :rofl:

[WindRavenX]

31. lol

:rofl:

[mondo joe]

33. I was SHOCKED when a fellow liberal said it was abusive for my kids to know the names of their body

parts.

Ever since then I'm not so easily surprised when even liberals favor ignorance when it comes to anatomy.

[frogcycle]

43. anatomy?

anatomy?
we don't need no steenking anatomy!

[mondo joe]

44. If ya teach em anatomy next comes sex edyoukashin and evilution.

:-)

[karlrschneider]

47. Chuck Berry knew how to deal with it...:-)

When I was a little biddy boy
My grandma bought me a cute little toy
Two Silver bells on a string
She told me it was my ding-a-ling-a-ling

My Ding-A-Ling My Ding-A-Ling won't you play with My Ding-A-Ling
My Ding-A-Ling My Ding-A-Ling won't you play with My Ding-A-Ling

When I was little boy In Grammar school
Always went by the very best rule
But Everytime the bell would ring
You'd catch me playing with my ding-a-ling

[frogcycle]

39. Balls! said the queen

If I had to, I could be King.
The King smiled
Because he had to.

[karlrschneider]

45. I almost posted that! But you just had to.

:D

[frogcycle]

87. I did ... and .. let me check .... I DO!

[Dastard Stepchild]

55. I've just recovered from blacking out...

having hit my head on the desk after fainting. Are you serious with this?

Next up for these schools... a revision of the Health 101 texts. In next week's class, we'll read about the function of the hairy danglers and the moist open thing.

[ulysses]

59. "moist open thing"?

:rofl:

It hurts when coffee comes out your nose...

[Dastard Stepchild]

70. :)

And eeeek! That baby! Will you just look at that face. :)

[ulysses]

73. new pictures of him here

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=105x6206739

:D

[Cobalt Violet]

58. I just want to know if Roy is okay. n/t

[NMMNG]

62. For crying out loud!

This is why kids grow up not knowing anything about their bodies and are vulnerable to a whole host of problems. There shouldn't be such an insane push to hide basic facts from them.

[Fire Walk With Me]

63. Ashcroft ordering the statue of Lady Justice's breastices covered

They demand all babies be born, but are terrified by baby food.

I promise that sometime today, I will think of breasts, in context of desire, not baby food. Someone stop me.

[muriel_volestrangler]

64. I'd like to remind people the British insult "scrote" is available for use

and sometimes, calling someone like Donald Rumsfeld a "useless old scrote" seems so right.

[DarkTirade]

65. Would they have preferred that it said 'dog's bollocks'?

[Marr]

67. Back in the good ol' days of the 50's, scrotums could have leading roles in film.

Like Scrotor, the alien.

[Mad_Dem_X]

69. Welcome to George Bush's Amerikkka

:eyes:

[HiFructosePronSyrup]

77. That poor dog.

:sad:

[OnionPatch]

80. This kind of puritanism is going to turn our children

into perverts. Yes, that's what happens when you hide something that should be natural and normal behind a veil of shame and mystery.

[truedelphi]

82. Shades of my mopther - SHe took the novel Flicka

away from me when I went to ask her what the chapter on gelding horses was all about.(I was about nine or ten at the time)

Then she went into the library and asked that Flicka not be allowed in the heads of children

My dad fliped out over a Sci Fi collection of Rod Steiger's that had some pretty juicy swear words in it. Interestingly enough,. that collection contained a horror story of a young woman living at a time when the earth was icing over - so she had to move south, but it was only a dream, and when she woke up, the world was heating up and everyone was frantcally evacuating for more northern climes.

[NashVegas]

92. Something I Once Read About Roald Dahl's Success With Children's Lit

Was along the lines of 'children are obsessed with body parts and what they do.'

Kids love anything that smacks of slapstick. Farts, burps, etc.