Banned Book Network Münster: Banned Books in Conversation

In response to the steep increase in book banning and attempted book challenges in the USA and beyond, the University of Münster’s Chairs for Book Studies and American Studies have co-founded “Banned Books Network Münster” (BBNM). Our purpose is to raise awareness of the increase in book banning, to create spaces for engagement with banned books, and to discuss the wider repercussions of these bans. Our events are inclusive in nature, and we hope to engage students, teachers, colleagues, and the wider reading public with our initiative.

At the first event of this series, Prof. Dr. Silvia Schultermandl will speak about And Tango Makes Three (2005), a picture book about the true story of two male Central Park Zoo penguins who hatch an egg together. The book received the Children’s Book Award from the American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty towards Animals in 2005, was named one of the Bank Street Best Books of the Year 2006, and has simultaneously been featured on multiple banned books lists. In 2024, it was listed as the most banned picture book on the PEN American Index of School Book Bans.