The children’s book publisher Scholastic backtracked this week after backlash over its decision to compile a separate list of books on race, gender, and sexuality.
Scholastic had provided school book fair organizers with a list of 64 books on race, gender, and sexuality in case they wanted to opt out of those books, a response to recent state laws restricting inappropriate material in schools.
After backlash to the separate book list, Scholastic apologized and scrapped it.
“We understand now that the separate nature of the collection has caused confusion and feelings of exclusion,” Scholastic said Wednesday in a statement.
The publisher said it will stop offering the separate book list in January and will “reconsider” how to make Scholastic book fairs available to all kids while keeping in mind “the needs of our educators facing local content restrictions.”
“It is unsettling that the current divisive landscape in the U.S. is creating an environment that could deny any child access to books, or that teachers could be penalized for creating access to all stories for their students,” Scholastic said.
Authors who wrote books on the list had strongly criticized Scholastic for the move. Amanda Gorman, whose book “Change Sings” was on the list, posted on X earlier this month that the list “feels like a betrayal.”
Some of the dozens of books on Scholastic’s “Share Every Story, Celebrate Every Voice” list were a picture book that included same-sex parents, “Thunderous,” a graphic novel about a Native American girl and a “spirit world,” a biography of Supreme Court Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson, and a biography of civil rights activist John Lewis.
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“We don’t pretend this solution is perfect — but the other option would be to not offer these books at all — which is not something we’d consider,” the publisher had said in an earlier statement this month.
It is not clear which titles on the publisher’s list would actually be restricted by law at school book fairs.
Some states like Florida have restricted how gender, sexuality, and racial topics can be taught in every grade.
However, a spokeswoman for the Florida Department of Education told The New York Times earlier this month that some of the books on Scholastic’s list like the John Lewis biography would not violate Florida law, noting that the state’s English standards list “Freedom Walkers,” another book about civil rights marches.
“This is a political stunt by a corporation prioritizing activism over the well-being of children,” the Florida Education Department spokeswoman said.
