Florida isn’t having a wonderful day at the moment, as there might be a potential ban on the beloved children’s book series, Arthur. It was argued that some books from the 1976 series by Marc Brown were not appropriate for children and that they should be removed from schools and libraries.
No Left Turn in Education president, Bruce Friedman, complained that eight books in the Arthur series shouldn’t be allowed in school, specifically Arthur’s Birthday. According to documents acquired by The Daily Beast, Friedman wrote down that the book had references to “spin the bottle,” and that “it’s not okay for K-5 kids.” The conservative activist also claimed that these books could “damage souls.”
It seems like Friedman didn’t read Arthur’s Birthday properly. The story is about Arthur celebrating his birthday on the same day as Muffy’s party, which caused a divide between the boys and the girls. This led Arthur and Francine to work together to ensure that everyone could celebrate one massive party in one place. The game in question was only referenced a few times, and no one in the book was seen playing it. The opposite could be said in the TV show adaptation since Francine’s demonstration was interrupted by Pal the dog.
No Left Turn in Education is a group known for promoting anti-LGBTQ+ and critical race theory rhetoric. According to the group’s website, “K -12 education should be free from indoctrination and politicization.” The group has a list of books that they claim are inappropriate for children, most of them involving LGBT+ stories and addressing racism.
Florida has banned numerous texts in the past. One of them was a poem that was recited during Joe Biden’s inauguration. Notable authors, like Stephen King, have criticized the DeSantis Government for its move to ban children’s access to books because they think they’re “not deemed fit for educational consumption.”
At the moment, Arthur’s Birthday is still being reviewed, and it’s currently unknown if the book series will remain on library shelves.