8 Books That Were Banned For Insane Reasons

6. Where's Waldo?

Where's Waldo Burning
Walker Books

When it comes to completely innocent and harmless books, it's difficult to think of a more pertinent example than Where's Waldo? For a start, the book is essentially entirely text free, and is more about the visual game of finding Waldo (and several other characters) amidst enormous crowds of people in very busy settings.

When you think about it, though, with such packed visuals it would be extremely easy for something untoward to slip by unnoticed. That being said, this particular example is completely ridiculous. Back when the original book was first published, a woman from the beach scene can be seen lying on a beach towel not wearing a bikini top. A young boy is pressing ice-cream on her back, causing her to shriek with the cold and revealing the side profile of one of her breasts.

If you've seen a Where's Waldo? book (and who at this point hasn't), you'll understand how simplified and cartoonish the tiny people are, and how innocuous the issue really is. Yet that didn't stop the book receiving an instant ban, and the issue had to be fixed (the woman started appearing with her bikini top on) before it could be sold.

 
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Contributor

Commonly found reading, sitting firmly in a seat at the cinema (bottle of water and a Freddo bar, please) or listening to the Mountain Goats.