Australian author and refugee Anh Do's children's books were banned in some US schools. Here's why

Author, artist and refugee Anh Do had 17 of his children's books banned in a US school district.

Anh Do is the author of the illustrated children's book The Little Refugee and memoir The Happiest Refugee. Source: AAP / Allen and Unwin

It has been revealed that 17 children's books written by Australian refugee, writer and artist Anh Do were banned in a United States school district.

PEN America, a not-for-profit organisation aimed at defending freedom of expression, reported that titles from Do's WeirDo series, had been banned from classrooms in Central York, Pennsylvannia.

The move was revealed in PEN's Index of School Book Bans as material banned in the US between 1 July, 2021 and 31 March, 2022. Overall it found around 470 books had been banned in classrooms across 15 districts.

"These constitute bans on use in classrooms, even in cases where the books may still be available in school libraries," PEN noted on its website.

Do, star of the ABC's Anh’s Brush With Fame and an Archibald Prize finalist, is the author of award-winning book The Happiest Refugee, which tells the story of his family's journey from Vietnam to Australia by boat.

He also released a children's version of the story called The Little Refugee. His WeirDo series includes titles such as Hopping Weird! and Planet Weird.

According to The Australian, Do was never made aware of the ban.

The Little Refugee book was written by Anh Do and Suzanne Do, with illustrations by Bruce Whatley. Source: AAP / Allen and Unwin

The Central York ban was eventually overturned last year after an outcry from students and widespread criticism.

In announcing the decision, the Central York School Board released a statement on 20 September, 2021, that attempted to explain why it froze the use of materials included on a Diversity Committee Resource List.

"What we are attempting to do is balance legitimate academic freedom with what could be literature/materials that are too activist in nature, and may lean more toward indoctrination rather than age-appropriate academic content," the board said.

It said the board made the decision on 9 November, 2020 to allow for a review of the material but acknowledged this had taken too long.

The ban came in the wake of the Black Lives Matter protests and critics noted that most of the resources included was work by or about people of colour. It included works by and about American civil rights activist Rosa Parks and Nobel Peace Prize laureate Malala Yousafzai.

PEN said owing to the "sweeping and ad hoc nature" of the ban, 14 book series were named and targeted including the WeirDo series.

Other titles included the Yasmin series by Saadia Faruqi and the Desmond Cole Ghost Patrol Series by Andres Miedoso.

Do's books were not allowed to be used in any classrooms in the Central York School District, a community of more than 5,000 students.