Challenged Books

Lucy25 said:

There is this tiny little picture of a woman on a beach who is topless. You have to look very closely, but yes you can see her ...um...assests.

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At least that's educational, lol. I had heard that before, but I couldn't remember why it was that "Where's Waldo?" was deemed "obscene" for children until I read your post, Lucy. Thanks for the reminder. I mean, if an eight-year-old might see miniscule cartoon-drawn breasts in a book, you can bet this country will be going to hell in a handbasket.
Rgirl

Lucy25 said:

There is this tiny little picture of a woman on a beach who is topless. You have to look very closely, but yes you can see her ...um...assests.

Click to expand...

Imagine how desperate the person who had found it (and complained about it) must have been. Of course, with my dirty European mind, I can't comprehend it. Well, if you really think about it, that person's mind's much dirtier.

Btw, that reminded me about a similar thing about "Three's Company". For years it was good enough, until one person called Nickelodeon, and complained that in one of episodes John Ritter showed "more that he should have". That is, if you're very willing you could see a tiny little bit of his balls when he was sitting on a bed in shorts. More like a shadow, really. No one would've noticed it if that person didn't call attention to it. Anyway, it was cut out. I loved Ritter's response when someone (Conan O'Brien, I think) asked him about it. He said that he called Nickelodeon, too, and asked them to run both versions (edited and unedited), "because sometimes you feel like a nut, and sometimes you don't."

Thanks Lucy - Now that you mention it, I sort of remember being in my old grade school library and some of the guys swarming and laughing around a "Where's Walso" book. That was probably the reason...
Laura

Well....I know that those tiny, badly rendered breasts in "Where's Waldo" certainly played a role in my downhill narcotics slide. LOL!

The funny thing about the Waldo bruhaha is that my middle schoolers love to look at those books, and they have never found the bare-breasted woman. If middle school boys can't find this, then it must be really small!

As a big fan of the late Shel Silverstein, I was surprised to see his wonderful book of off-beat poetry on the list. As for the "Waldo Books" that made the list, these are the books that one of my students who has ADHD will sit still for. He will sit for 10 minutes and not move a muscle, completely absorbed in locating Waldo............Here's a quick story about another children's book by the title of "Zerelda's Ogre" by Tomi Ungerer. A parent many years ago at my school tried to have it banned from our school library. The book is about an ogre, who likes to eat children (you never see him actually eating children). He meets a young girl who is a wonderful cook. (traditional foods only). He is reformed, they marry, and have several children. The last picture in the book shows the happy family gathered around the crib of the latest addition to their family. One of the older children is pictured peeking into the cradle with a knife and fork in his hand. The kids loved that story and knew it was all in fun. The book stayed in the library, but was discarded a few years later due to a few torn pages. It was never replaced, but guess who got the "thrown-away copy"!!!!! (Wow, RGirl, that was nearly as long as one of your "short" posts!!) 42

Nah, Show, my short ones are MUCH longer than that puny thang, lol.

Have been giggling over all the "Where's Waldo?" comments, ie, "If middle-school boys can't find it..."

Also John Ritter's request to Nickolodean to show both versions and his "Sometimes you feel like a nut, sometimes you don't" quip. Boy, he sure will be missed

But, hey, somebody complained about that while Chrissy (Suzanne Somers) was bouncing around in her halter top? Well, equal opportunity harangues. Or should I say "two for two?" Or "tit for tat?" Or shut up before I get really bad.
Rgirl