8 Books That Were Banned For Insane Reasons
2. Bill Martin, Jr – Brown Bear, Brown Bear, What Do You See?
No, this isn't a book too explicit for its time, nor was it banned in 1967 (the year it was published) for some inane contemporary reason. The real reason Brown Bear, Brown Bear, What Do You See? is way more bizarre in nature.
The book is set up like many children's picture books. There's no real plot to speak of, rather the narrator asks a bunch of animals “what they see”, the answer to which leads the narrator to another animal who is asked the same question and so on. Completely innocent, right?
Unfortunately for Bill Martin Jr., the book's author, there happens to be a philosopher who shares his name. Not only that, but philosopher Bill Martin was a Marxist, and author of the books Marxism And The Call Of The Future and Ethical Marxism: The Categorical Imperative Of Liberation. What this ultimately lead to was a mix up in which Bill Martin Jr.'s completely innocent children's book was banned because he was briefly accused of writing Marxist propaganda. Perhaps the Bear represents societal conflict?