Family Fun Day: Banned Books Week
Join us for an event honoring Banned Books Week 2023! This year, we are celebrating books, reading, and freedom of speech with the National Coalition Against Censorship (NCAC) and volunteers from their Student Advocates for Speech program. Explore a full day’s worth of activities across the Museum for families to celebrate books and learn a little more about the history of censorship in the United States.
Sunday Story Time: Malala’s Magic Pencil
11:30 am – 12:30 pm
Barbara K. Lipman Children’s History Library, Lower Level
Malala Yousafzai has spent her whole life using her voice to make change, even when people have tried to silence her—like banning this book! In Malala’s Magic Pencil, with illustrations by Kerascoët, learn about Malala’s life. When she was a little girl growing up in Pakistan, Malala dreamed of having a magic pencil that could draw away any problem. As she grew older, Malala realized that she could make the world a better place using the power of her own voice! After the book, make your own magic pencil and think of ways that you could change the world!
Family Q&A with Special Guest Authors Wade Hudson and Eliot Schrefer
1–2:30 pm
Patricia D. Klingenstein Library Reading Room, 2nd Floor
Join us for a very special Q&A with guest authors Wade Hudson (author, publisher, and president and CEO of Just Us Books Inc.) and Eliot Schrefer (a New York Times-bestselling author) along with members of the NCAC.
Wade Hudson is an author, a publisher, and the president and CEO of Just Us Books Inc., an independent publisher of books for children and young adults. Wade has received a New Jersey Stephen Crane Literary Award, the Ida B. Wells Institutional Leadership Award, and the Madame C. J. Walker Legacy Award.
Eliot Schrefer is a New York Times-bestselling author. He has twice been a finalist for the National Book Award for Young People’s Literature, received the Stonewall Honor for best LGBTQIA+ teen book, and received the Printz Honor for best young adult book from the ALA.
Family Craft: Collage Bookmark
12:30–2:30pm
Patricia D. Klingenstein Library Reading Room, 2nd Floor
Get crafty and use your imagination at our supplies table to make your own unique bookmark to take home. It’ll be a useful accessory for all your Banned Book Week reading!
Family Guide: BANNED
All Day
Explore the New-York Historical Society with this paper-based family guide to learn more about the history of censorship in the United States, from the time of the founding fathers up to the present day. Pick up a copy throughout the Museum, including downstairs in the Children’s Museum.