The Trump Administration has banned Julianne Moore‘s 2007 children’s book “Freckleface Strawberry” from schools operated by the Department of Defense, the “Far from Heaven” star shared on Instagram Sunday morning.
“It is a great shock for me to learn that my first book, ‘Freckleface Strawberry,’ has been banned by the Trump Administration from schools run by the Department of Defense,” Moore wrote. “‘Freckleface Strawberry’ is a semi-autobiographical story about a seven year old girl who dislikes her freckles but eventually learns to live with them when she realizes that she is different ‘just like everybody else.’ It is a book I wrote for my children and for other kids to remind them that we all struggle, but are united by our humanity and our community.”
The official synopsis for “Freckleface Strawberry” reads: “If you have freckles, you can try these things: 1) Make them go away. Unless scrubbing doesn’t work. 2) Cover them up. Unless your mom yells at you for using a marker. 3) Disappear. Um, where’d you go? Oh, there you are. There’s one other thing you can do: 4) LIVE WITH THEM! Because after all, the things that make you different also make you, YOU. From acclaimed actress Julianne Moore and award-winning illustrator LeUyen Pham comes a delightful story of a little girl who’s different … just like everybody else.”
Moore, a graduate of the DoD-run Frankfurt American High School and daughter of a Vietnam veteran, added she was particularly saddened that “kids like me, growing up with a parent in the service and attending a [DoDEA] school will not have access to a book written by someone whose life experience is so similar to their own.”
“I can’t help but wonder what is so controversial about this picture book that caused it to be banned by the US Government,” Moore continued. “I am truly saddened and never thought I would see this in a country where freedom of speech and expression is a constitutional right.”
Moore credited non-profit literary activist group Pen America for bringing the ban to her attention. Pen America’s own Instagram post noted Kathleen Krull’s Ruth Bader Ginsburg picture book “No Truth Without Ruth” and Ellis Nutt’s “Becoming Nicole” were embargoed along with “Freckleface Strawberry.”
From Variety US