Books That Open Doors
Last weekend I found myself in my favorite bookstore, tucked into the mountains on Main Street in Frisco, Colorado.
It's the kind of place with wooden shelves stretching from floor to ceiling, creaky floorboards, and stacks of books around every corner. The smell of paper and ink hits you the moment you walk in, and I never seem to leave empty-handed.
One for me. One for my kids. Usually one more for someone else, because I cannot help myself.
While wandering through the children's section, I noticed a shelf labeled banned books. As a teacher and a parent, the idea of a children's book being "banned" always makes me pause.
Right there on the shelf were Charlotte's Web and Goodnight Moon.
I stopped when I saw Charlotte's Web. I had just finished reading it aloud to my first graders. They loved it. They worried about Wilbur. They had a million questions about the fair.
Standing there in that cozy mountain bookstore, I found myself wondering what it means when a story like that ends up on a banned books shelf.
Charlotte's Web is a story about friendship, kindness, loyalty, and the cycle of life. It has been read with children for generations. And yet, there it was.
It reminded me of something I learned in graduate school. Rudine Sims Bishop described books as windows, mirrors, and sliding glass doors.
Through books, children should be able to see themselves. They should be able to see other people's lives and experiences. And sometimes they should be able to step into a world different from their own.
When we remove books from shelves or decide certain stories should not be available to children, those windows begin to close. Mirrors disappear. Doors quietly lock.
Seeing Charlotte's Web on a banned books shelf made me pause. Not because the story suddenly felt controversial, but because it reminded me how much power stories have.
The books we share with children shape how they see themselves and how they begin to understand the world around them.
And that feels like the kind of responsibility that calls us to keep opening those windows and doors.
