Censorship on award-winning children's book

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The Ministry of Family and Social Services has imposed censorship on the book 'Morris Micklewhite and the Tangerine Dress,' which received the Stonewall Children and Young Adult Literature Honor Award in 2015.

According to the Ministry, the reason for this censorship is that some expressions in the book are harmful to those under the age of 18, and it will now only be allowed to be sold in an "envelope or bag." These envelopes and bags will have no writing or pictures on them except for the title of the book and the statement "Harmful to Minors."

The book will only be sold to those over 18 years of age. According to the decision, the book cannot be displayed in bookstores, stationery stores, and similar places or be brought into schools.

The book had previously been put up for sale at the Istanbul Bookstore, owned by the Istanbul Metropolitan Municipality (İBB), and both the İBB and the book had been targeted by some conservative circles.

The book, authored by children's and youth story writer Christine Baldacchino and translated into Turkish by Deniz Özülke, was published by Güldünya Yayınları in November 2018.

The book, the content of which is summarized as "Morris, who loves to dress up, is teased by his classmates for being different, but he will find a way to deal with it," was on the Rainbow Round Table of the American Library Association.

bia children's book editor and writer Sedat Yılmaz introduced the book to bianet readers last month.

From the book introduction

Christine Baldacchino tells the courage and creativity of being different. The story, which received the Stonewall Children and Young Adult Literature Honor Award and is accompanied by the warm illustrations of Isabelle Malenfant, focuses on Morris, who is teased by his classmates for being different. Morris, who has a mother named Moria and a cat named Moo, loves to dress up!

This book, which is on the American Library Association's Rainbow List and was named one of the best books of the year by Kirkus, is Christine Baldacchino's first book. Thanks to the education she received as a child, she became interested in design, graphic artist, and web designer. The author, who loves cats and the color orange, lives in Toronto with her husband.

Isabelle Malenfant, who illustrated this beautiful story, has illustrated nearly twenty children's books to date. Born in Val-d'Or, Quebec, amidst gold mines and lakes in the north of Quebec, the artist completed the graphic design department at the University of Quebec in Montreal. Malenfant, who lives in Montreal with her family, expresses her love for illustration techniques on the pages of the book. (HA/PE)