Picture books featuring gay or transgender characters or naked butts — human or otherwise — were among the most frequently banned in U.S. public schools in the 2023-2024 school year.
PEN America counted more than 10,000 book bans in the 2023-2024 school year affecting more than 4,000 unique titles, with about 45% of the bans occurring in Florida and 36% in Iowa. Most bans targeted young adult or adult titles, but about 2% of bans were of picture books for the youngest readers. The heartwarming penguin adoption story And Tango Makes Three was the most frequently banned picture book of the 2023-2024 school year, followed by The Family Book, a colorful board book about different types of families, and Julián is a Mermaid, about a boy who uses a curtain as a mermaid tail.
