The Impact of a Dog Who is a Man

The dog who is a man. A boy who is wimpy. A boy who has a scar on his head. Stories have a significant impact on us. Interesting stories Dogman, Diary of a Wimpy Kid, and Harry Potter have changed the way kids approach and think about reading. Kids are eager to read because of these books. However, the rise of Book Bans have threatened to stop the spread of some of these influential books, which is not right. 

A book that has influenced my life, and the lives of many around me, is Harry Potter. If you are not familiar, Harry Potter is a character in the series Harry Potter who is an aspiring, young wizard trying to navigate the wizard world, while also trying to defeat the infamous Lord Voldemort. If you haven’t heard of this series, I’m surprised. Harry Potter was, and still is, huge in children’s fiction. The series has sold over 600 million copies and has been translated into many other languages so more kids can enjoy the fantastical story. The encasping adventures Harry and his friends go on while trying to stop the most evil wizard draws people in. Harry Potter has achieved a level of cultural impact that has never really been seen in children’s literature before, causing waves of children to purchase and read the book series. A survey reported by VOX found in 2011, a third of people aged 18 to 34 had read at least one of the books. That’s tens of millions of people who had read the series in the U.S. alone. The series then caused kids to be engaged in reading, even those who may not have enjoyed it before, read other authors and genres, make reading cool, and created a shared social space where people can share something they love together. Although it may just be a book, Harry Potter had a significant impact on children’s reading in the 2000s and 2010s. 

More recently, a new book series has been accumulating a large fandom, bringing in new kids developing the love for reading. DogMan is a series of graphic novel books that revolve around the adventures of a half-dog, half-man police officer. Although this book is not as big as Harry Potter, kids are obsessed with the series. I’ve gone to elementary schools around where I live to volunteer and these kids are obsessed with the books! They literally fight when one comes back into circulation in the libraries. The adventurous story mixed with the graphic novel format allows any and all kids to engage in the story. This series has inspired young readers to enjoy reading, use creativity, and develop love for storytelling. At least I have seen kids, after finishing the series, read new authors with fun stories and read more than they may originally have. As well, the series tries to get kids to stay positive and give back to their communities, just like Dogman does in the books. Even if Dogman is a graphic novel and not a traditional chapter book, the story engages kids in and encourages them to read.

However, there is a new threat to children’s stories. The number of book bans in the United States is increasing at a threatening rate. According to PEN America, there were over 10,000 banned books in schools during the 2023-2024 school year. The report does not record how many of these books were appropriate for school or not, or the reason for the bans in general, but it does note the titles and authors. The pattern found in the report was that many of the books banned were often written by authors of color, women, and members of the LGBTQ+ community. Some of these books, if made for older students, questioned norms of society and discussed controversial topics. This is a problem. Even if the majority of these books were not appropriate to students, the increase in banned books by such authors can pose a threat for the future, especially if we remove suppressed groups from writing stories. 

One book that many school districts are targeting currently is Harry Potter. Yes, school districts are trying to ban a book that is making kids read! Why? Witchcraft of course! Ever since the book was released, parents and schools have had discourse with the series because of the portrayal of magic and promotion of a negative lifestyle. Recently, multiple school districts, typically those that focus on religious education, have decided to ban the book from classrooms. Harry Potter teaches children about friendship, courage, facing fears, and the importance of believing in oneself, but school district officials seem to not care about that. They are more focused on the spells and wizards than the true lessons that students can learn. 

Banning books that have a positive impact on kids will lead to even worse impacts. Most notably, book bans limit children’s access to diverse perspectives, which can impact their development. Exposing kids, especially younger children, to diverse stories allows kids to grow up with empathy and emotional appreciation for everyone since they are used to seeing all types of people. When we limit that, kids will limit their respect for groups of people because of the environment they were stuck in. A limit on books can hinder their sense of belonging as well. Kids being able to find themselves in a story is significant to their development because they can find someone that represents them. If that’s restricted, they may begin to believe that they themselves don’t belong where they are, and that’s not right. Additionally, taking away the books that kids enjoy cuts off their engagement in reading. By restricting access to books, kids may be less interested in reading since there is lack of choice. Don’t we want kids to read more? Banning books can change kids’ opinions on diverse groups, emotional development, sense of belonging, and interest in reading.

These are all reasons why people don’t support banning books, but why do people agree? The biggest reason I believe is to restrict children’s access to books that are not age appropriate and promotion to specific ideologies. Yes, all parents and educators should have the right to decide what types of books are appropriate for each age group. However, banning books specifically because they discuss a topic, like race or LGTBQ+, is limiting and restricting. Even if a couple parents don’t believe a book is “right” due to a topic they don’t agree with, it should not be banned to censor specific groups, especially if many other parents don’t mind the book. This would just be censorship at its finest, and censoring certain ideas because you don’t agree with them, when they are harmless, is wrong. The books that are being banned currently are restricting and censoring certain ideologies and groups for all ages, even older students in high school. This is limiting students from exploring and developing their own ideas, which I believe is the goal.

Unfortunately, many books that ended up getting banned last school year in different districts were not because they were harmful to kids, but conflicted with personal interests. When school district administrators ban books, they end up limiting influential books that can leave a positive impact on students. These influential books can positively impact their sense of belonging, emotional development, and most importantly, their engagement in reading. Stories were made to engage readers, and many children’s books were made to leave a positive mark on children. When we limit that, we restrict their growth. Continuing the emphasis on only banning harmful books that hurt children’s development is necessary, not banning Harry Potter and Dogman.

*** I do not own the rights to this photo! All rights belong to IGN!