Mem Fox children’s book Guess What? deemed ‘pornography’ in Duval County, Florida

The Mem Fox favourite has been purged from some US classrooms as a state begins to blacklist a series of works from school libraries. See the picture that offended them below.

A book by decorated South Australian children’s author Mem Fox has been removed from shelves in a US county after being deemed ‘pornographic material’ by officials.

Mrs Fox’s 2007 illustrated book Guess What?, which centres around a witch named Daisy O’Grady, has been pulled from classrooms in Duval County, Florida amid a flurried book removal in the state.

Florida Governor Ron DeSantis said the removal was part of a government push to “crack down on pornography in schools” and “protect students from woke indoctrination”.

A list obtained by the Florida Freedom to Read Project, a not-for-profit organisation protesting the book removal, revealed that Fox’s book was considered ‘pornographic’ under legislation introduced in the state last year.

The decision to remove the book was made on the grounds of one illustration, which depicts character Daisy O’Grady taking a bath.

Mrs Fox, who is currently celebrating the 40th anniversary of Possum Magic, declined to comment when approached by The Advertiser.

A spokesperson from the Florida Freedom to Read Project said the choice to label Mrs Fox’s book as pornography was “ridiculous” and slammed the Florida Department of Education’s decision to remove it from classrooms.

“The “pornography” classification is ridiculous and is an example in how fear can achieve authoritarian levels of compliance even in a democracy that prides itself on constitutionally protected freedom,” they said.

“It is really disappointing to see that vaguely worded laws and the threat of punishment can encourage educators to remove an entire district of students’ access to a book such as ‘Guess What?’.”

Awarded an Order of Australia medal in 199F3 for her services to children’s literature, Mrs Fox’s 1983 book Possum Magic is one of Australia’s most beloved children’s books.

She isn’t the first South Australian to have their material censored in the US – last year, international best-selling Adelaide author Sophie Gonzales’ novel Perfect on Paper was banned in Texas schools after being deemed “obscene material”.

Ms Gonzales’ novel was one of more than 800 banned titles, published between 1969 and 2021, that dealt with issues of race, gender identity and sexuality – many of which had won literary awards.

Much-loved Australian refugee and author Anh Do also fell victim to a book ban in 2022, after a school district in Pennsylvania, US, removed his novel WeirDo from its library shelves over parents’ concerns of its “divisive nature”.

The ban was only lifted in January when students took action, protesting before classes every day using placards to demand the books be brought back and to oppose the censorship.