As the Trump administration wages a crusade against children’s books, Julianne Moore has found her own work on a banned list.
On Sunday, the Oscar winner revealed her 2007 book Freckleface Strawberry was banned by the U.S. Department of Defense in a recent purge of books tied to race, gender and sexuality, following President Donald Trump‘s executive order targeting topics related to diversity in the military.
“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,” she wrote on Instagram. “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.
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“I am particularly stunned because I am a proud graduate of Frankfurt American High School a #DOD school that once operated in Frankfurt, Germany. I grew up with a father who is a Vietnam veteran and spent his career in the #USArmy. I could not be prouder of him and his service to our country. It is galling for me to realize that kids like me, growing up with a parent in the service and attending a @dodea_edu school will not have access to a book written by someone whose life experience is so similar to their own. And I can’t help but wonder what is so controversial about this picture book that cause it to be banned by the US Government. I am truly saddened and never thought I would see this in a country where freedom of speech and expression is a constitutional right. Thank you to @penamerica for bringing this to my attention,” added Moore.
According to the book’s website, Freckleface Strawberry is about “a little girl who was just like everybody else. She was seven. She was short. She could ride a bike. She was just like everybody else, except for one thing. She had red hair. And something worse…FRECKLES!”
“Meet Freckleface Strawberry: a red-haired and frecklefaced 7-year-old girl who’s learning to love the skin she’s in,” the description continues. “Because after all, the things that make you different also make you YOU.”
The Defense Department previously sent a memo to parents at Pentagon schools serving US military families, according to The Guardian, noting that access to library books would be suspended for a week during a “compliance review” of books that the administration accuses of “radical indoctrination” amid Trump’s campaign against DEI.
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