Kids' Author Tackles Banned Books In Latest Project

TAMPA BAY, FL — The latest title from Tampa Bay-area children’s book author Rob Sanders tackles a hot topic in Florida: banned books.

The former Hillsborough County educator’s upcoming picture book, “Book Comes Home: A Banned Book’s Journey,” will be released by Random House Children’s Books in March.

“It’s specifically about book banning and when a book disappears from a library,” Sanders told Patch. “It’s told from the book’s perspective about what it’s like to be put in the back shelf of a dark room in the library.”

Eventually, the book is saved by a group of children, he said. “These kids who cherish books, these rescuers of books through their actions, which may be our only real hope moving forward.”

It’s safe to say that Sanders knows a lot about the topic of book banning. His 2018 book, “Pride,” about the history of the LGBTQ+ rainbow pride flag, which was commissioned by California politician and activist Harvey Milk in the late 1970s, has been challenged by a number of schools and libraries across the country.

It was tied for the No. 1 most-banned picture book in the U.S. for the 2021-22 school year, alongside “I Am Jazz” and “And Tango Makes Three.”

“I didn't know [it would be banned.] There were very few nonfiction books that dealt with LGBTQ topics when this came out in 2018; there are lots now,” Sanders said. “I wasn’t sure, would it be in classroom libraries? Would it be in school libraries? I had no frame of reference for it.”

He added, “It’s not a radical story in any way. It’s just a historical story about the origin of the pride flag. I naively thought, what’s wrong with telling history. Perhaps I still naively think, what’s wrong with telling history?”

Since then, many of Sanders’ nonfiction books have focused on LGBTQ+ history: a transgender Civil War soldier, a poetry collection about queer historical figures, the biography of Pete Buttigieg.

He thinks that it’s important that children learn about these overlooked topics.

“I write specifically because kids don’t know about this. Kids don’t know about this person or this is a cool event that kids need to know about or something cool that happened or someone who made a difference in the world,” he said. “I don’t think, oh, let’s put another LGBTQ book out in the world. It’s more that it’s a missing part of history and that part of history needs to be told. We all have our different ways that we can contribute to the fight for equality, for equity, for inclusion. And the thing that I know that I can do is I can write and I know how to write for kids. It’s something I can do to make a difference.”

Sanders will participate in a panel on book banning Friday, 1 p.m., at the Catherine Hickman Theater in Gulfport as part of the ReadOUT LGBTQ+ book festival.