Why This Day In June?

This Day in June is more than just a book on Pride parades — it is a parade itself! While the choice of minimal words and loud, bright pictures may seem like a stylistic choice to appeal to children at first, it also works to mimic the visually heavy aspects of an actual parade. Each page references different groups and issues that are represented and brought to the public awareness at Pride parades, allowing children to be introduced to topics that may be new to them in a way that isn’t as overwhelming as encountering them for the first time at the parade itself. The book also comes with a reading guide in the back, broken down by the individual pages as well as age groups to aid guardians and teachers in discussing the book with their little ones.

It won’t be surprising to most to hear that This Day in June has been challenged repeatedly. 

According to the American Library Association, it was the 10th-most banned and challenged book in the United States in 2018 and the 42nd-most banned and challenged book between 2010 and 2019.

The American people’s large reaction to this cute, educational, and simple book is admittedly what drew me to it more than the content of the book itself. It is a book whose sole itention is to educate and aid people with having a more diverse and open mind in the colourful and intricate world that we live in today; but it has been executed for doing to do so.