An Ohio school district just banned the children's book It's Okay to Be a Unicorn after deciding that, well, unicorns and rainbows are just not age-appropriate for children. And neither is the theme of the book, which encourages kids to be themselves.
In fact, the colorful picture book — about a cute unicorn pretending to be a horse to fit in — is so highly offensive to district officials in the Buckeye Valley School District, near Columbus, that a principal told author Jason Tharp he would no longer be able to read the forbidden book at a scheduled event, according to HuffPost, and teachers were told to strip the school walls of any student artwork related to said indecent book.
From HuffPost:
The funny, upbeat book with colorful unicorns (and a rainbow) lets kids know it's OK to be themselves — which the book's detractors apparently viewed as a subversive message. …
Tharp later received an email from district officials telling him he could also no longer read his book "It's Okay to Smell Good" (about a skunk) during his visit, he told WBNS-TV news.
A handful of parents turned up for a school district emergency meeting on Friday about the unicorn book — however, they all reportedly wanted the book to stay.
"So why couldn't we read a book with a rainbow on it?" asked one disgusted parent, who also teaches in the district.
Interim District School Superintendent Jeremy Froehlich told WBNS that officials "just wanted to make sure that we vetted the book" and claimed that only a single parent had complained.
Froelich did not say when the book would be "vetted" and if it will ever be allowed back in the classroom.
