'Pinkerton' to Stay on Shelves

IL library retains picture book challenged for frightening image

Walter Minkel -- School Library Journal, 7/1/2004

Evanston (IL) Public Library's board of trustees voted May 19 to retain Steven Kellogg's Pinkerton, Behave! (Dial, 1979) on library shelves, despite a parent's claim that a scene in the picture book is too scary for young children. Parent Mary Beth Schaye objected to the book's depiction of a burglar who breaks into the home of Pinkerton's owners. The burglar holds a gun to the mother's head before the great Dane saves the family. Schaye says she was shocked to come upon the illustration while reading the book to her three-year-old daughter. Seven other parents supported Schaye's effort to remove the book.

After the board decided against withdrawing the book, Schaye then asked that copies of the original dust jacket—which shows a burglar toting a gun—be placed over the cover of the newer 2002 edition, which features a close-up of Pinkerton, so that parents would be forewarned. (The library's children's collection includes both editions.) The board declined her request.