Dangerous reading: How socially constructed narratives of childhood shape perspectives on book banning

The purpose of this article is to connect the dots between contemporary efforts to ban “dangerous” reading material and Western narratives about childhood innocence that rose to prominence in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries. Understanding these narratives is important, because they underlie common misapprehensions about how children consume and process literature. By illuminating the history of beliefs about childhood and reading that are used to justify censorship, as well as alternatives to them, this article will provide librarians with useful context for our contemporary moment and perspectives that may prove beneficial when they face book-banning efforts in their communities.Public significance statement By illuminating the history of beliefs about childhood and reading that are used to justify censorship, as well as alternatives to them, this article provides librarians with useful context for our contemporary moment and perspectives that may prove beneficial when they face book-banning efforts in their communities.