# Nudity in Children's Books (spoilers very likely; minor Harry Potter spoiler in OP) **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [November 14, 2003, 3:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nudity-in-childrens-books-spoilers-very-likely-minor-harry-potter-spoiler-in-op/213254 "2003-11-14T15:47:22Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Weirddave](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/919ad9/32.png) [@Weirddave](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Weirddave)\ **Post date:** [November 15, 2003, 1:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nudity-in-childrens-books-spoilers-very-likely-minor-harry-potter-spoiler-in-op/213254/21 "2003-11-15T01:49:51Z")
In Stephen King’s _It_, all of the kids get naked in the sewers after beating IT for the first time. Then they have a gang bang. Hmmm, maybe you better not bring that one up after all… ---
**Author:** ![Chimpsmack](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/eb9ed0/32.png) [@Chimpsmack](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chimpsmack)\ **Post date:** [November 15, 2003, 1:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nudity-in-childrens-books-spoilers-very-likely-minor-harry-potter-spoiler-in-op/213254/22 "2003-11-15T01:53:22Z")
IIRC, while not really a childrens book, _Battle Royale_ by Takami Koushun contains a scene where a female character uses nudity to distract two boys bent on killing her. It also describes her as having been a prostitute in the past. I’m not sure, but I think all the children were fifteen at the time. ---
**Author:** ![Leechboy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/9fc348/32.png) [@Leechboy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leechboy)\ **Post date:** [November 15, 2003, 2:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nudity-in-childrens-books-spoilers-very-likely-minor-harry-potter-spoiler-in-op/213254/23 "2003-11-15T02:13:45Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Zsofia \* > \*\*It should perhaps be mentioned that some of these books, notably _In the Night Kitchen_ and _The Giver_, show up on the Banned Books list, in the first case definately because of the nudity. (Also stupidly, but there you go.) _The Giver_ they probably have issues with the eugenics bit, also, but the only thing they bitch about in Sendak is the naked little boy. Oh my stars and garters. \*\* There is a Banned Book list? Is this for school librarys or some such? Who choses which books get banned and how? ---
**Author:** ![leechbabe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/7cd45c/32.png) [@leechbabe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/leechbabe)\ **Post date:** [November 15, 2003, 2:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nudity-in-childrens-books-spoilers-very-likely-minor-harry-potter-spoiler-in-op/213254/24 "2003-11-15T02:26:02Z")
:smack: Just noticed I posted as Leechboy. Sorry 'bout that, above question is from me. ---
**Author:** ![Laughing\_Lagomorph](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/6bbea6/32.png) [@Laughing\_Lagomorph](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Laughing_Lagomorph)\ **Post date:** [November 15, 2003, 2:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nudity-in-childrens-books-spoilers-very-likely-minor-harry-potter-spoiler-in-op/213254/25 "2003-11-15T02:38:43Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by leechbabe \* > \*\*There is a Banned Book list? Is this for school librarys or some such? Who choses which books get banned and how? \*\* There was a thread kicking around here within the last week about books that had been banned somewhere, at some time. There was an online site that had a pretty extensive list but I don’t have the link. No doubt some smart person will supply it soon. Anyway, the list in this case wasn’t for librarians or whatever to know which books to ban, it was more so people could laugh at the ignorance of would-be banners. ---
**Author:** ![Ranchoth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ranchoth/32/1066_2.png) [@Ranchoth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ranchoth)\ **Post date:** [November 15, 2003, 2:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nudity-in-childrens-books-spoilers-very-likely-minor-harry-potter-spoiler-in-op/213254/26 "2003-11-15T02:47:47Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Cervaise \* > \*\*I don’t think they’re completely naked, but would you count the twenty-seven page hardcore sex scene from _A Wrinkle In Time_? \*\* Naah…“Ball Gags” still count as clothing. ---
**Author:** ![Anamorphic](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/anamorphic/32/3057_2.png) [@Anamorphic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Anamorphic)\ **Post date:** [November 15, 2003, 2:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nudity-in-childrens-books-spoilers-very-likely-minor-harry-potter-spoiler-in-op/213254/27 "2003-11-15T02:55:08Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Walloon \* > \*\*In the Newbery Award-winning children’s novel _From the Mixed-Up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler_ by E. L. Konigsburg, the brother and sister who run away and hide out in the Metropolitan Museum of Art take a bath in a fountain in the museum. There’s even a two-page drawing, at least in the original edition. \*\* This is the one that I immediately thought of. I can vividly recall reading this as a young boy and being quite… stirred by the idea of the girl bathing right there in the fountain. ---
**Author:** ![Guinastasia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guinastasia/32/5751_2.png) [@Guinastasia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Guinastasia)\ **Post date:** [November 15, 2003, 2:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nudity-in-childrens-books-spoilers-very-likely-minor-harry-potter-spoiler-in-op/213254/28 "2003-11-15T02:59:16Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Cervaise \* > \*\*I don’t think they’re completely naked, but would you count the twenty-seven page hardcore sex scene from _A Wrinkle In Time_? \*\* Whoa, which part was that? It’s been so long since I’ve read that book! ---
**Author:** ![Laughing\_Lagomorph](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/6bbea6/32.png) [@Laughing\_Lagomorph](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Laughing_Lagomorph)\ **Post date:** [November 15, 2003, 3:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nudity-in-childrens-books-spoilers-very-likely-minor-harry-potter-spoiler-in-op/213254/29 "2003-11-15T03:03:17Z")
**leechbabe** , and anyone else who is interested: This was the thread that discussed “challenged” books, and the reasons: [http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?s=&threadid=222004](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?s=&threadid=222004) The link in the OP will take you to a list of such books. **Darkhold** also supplies a link to a similar site: [http://title.forbiddenlibrary.com/](http://title.forbiddenlibrary.com/) ---
**Author:** ![Profane](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/e47774/32.png) [@Profane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Profane)\ **Post date:** [November 15, 2003, 3:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nudity-in-childrens-books-spoilers-very-likely-minor-harry-potter-spoiler-in-op/213254/30 "2003-11-15T03:23:48Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Walloon \* > \*\*In the Newbery Award-winning children’s novel _From the Mixed-Up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler_ by E. L. Konigsburg, the brother and sister who run away and hide out in the Metropolitan Museum of Art take a bath in a fountain in the museum. There’s even a two-page drawing, at least in the original edition. \*\* Thank you for posting this. I loved that book, but could never remember what it was called. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Freudian\_Slit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/5daacb/32.png) [@Freudian\_Slit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Freudian_Slit)\ **Post date:** [November 15, 2003, 3:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nudity-in-childrens-books-spoilers-very-likely-minor-harry-potter-spoiler-in-op/213254/31 "2003-11-15T03:43:15Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Cervaise \* > \*\*I don’t think they’re completely naked, but would you count the twenty-seven page hardcore sex scene from _A Wrinkle In Time_? \*\* Yeah, I definitely don’t remember that one either…! ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [November 15, 2003, 5:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nudity-in-childrens-books-spoilers-very-likely-minor-harry-potter-spoiler-in-op/213254/32 "2003-11-15T05:07:12Z")
I’m thinking that **Cervaise** and **Ranchoth** were joking there… Or maybe it’s all part of a nefarious plan to get _A Wrinkle in Time_ onto banned-books lists, thereby guaranteeing that unprecedented numbers of kids will read it. By the way, in _Lord of the Rings_, in addition to the scene after the Barrow-Downs, there’s also a bath scene earlier in the book, featuring Frodo, Sam, Pippen, and copious amounts of splashing. And Gandalf was sent back “naked” into the world after his fight with the Balrog, but that doesn’t mean quite the same thing. Heinlein’s _The Door into Summer_ is sort of on the borderline of the juveniles, but two of the main characters are nudists. ---
**Author:** ![Second\_Star\_to\_the\_Right](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/3bc359/32.png) [@Second\_Star\_to\_the\_Right](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Second_Star_to_the_Right)\ **Post date:** [November 15, 2003, 7:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nudity-in-childrens-books-spoilers-very-likely-minor-harry-potter-spoiler-in-op/213254/33 "2003-11-15T07:14:11Z")
Don’t know if this is a children’s book so much as a “young adult/teen” book, but \* Are You There, God? It’s Me, Margaret \* (written by Judy Blume)has a part where Margaret stands in front of a mirror naked and examines herself. ---
**Author:** ![Ranchoth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ranchoth/32/1066_2.png) [@Ranchoth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ranchoth)\ **Post date:** [November 15, 2003, 8:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nudity-in-childrens-books-spoilers-very-likely-minor-harry-potter-spoiler-in-op/213254/34 "2003-11-15T08:04:48Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Chronos \* > \*\*I’m thinking that **Cervaise** and **Ranchoth** were joking there… Or maybe it’s all part of a nefarious plan to get _A Wrinkle in Time_ onto banned-books lists, thereby guaranteeing that unprecedented numbers of kids will read it. > \*\* Naaaw…My nefarious plan to get kids to read involves slipping heroin into batches of book-binding glue. \>:) ---
**Author:** ![Askia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/96bed5/32.png) [@Askia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Askia)\ **Post date:** [November 15, 2003, 9:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nudity-in-childrens-books-spoilers-very-likely-minor-harry-potter-spoiler-in-op/213254/35 "2003-11-15T09:14:22Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by bup \* > \*\*Forgive the mention of this story that offends many people, but while we’re running around shocking people…_Sambo_. \*\* I own a reprint of the 1899 original text, along with reproductions of the original Helen Bannermanart, and there’s definitely no nudity in _The Story of Little Black Sambo._ Perhaps you misremember… or is this another version of the story you’re talking about? ---
**Author:** ![Shade](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/2bfe46/32.png) [@Shade](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shade)\ **Post date:** [November 15, 2003, 12:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nudity-in-childrens-books-spoilers-very-likely-minor-harry-potter-spoiler-in-op/213254/36 "2003-11-15T12:40:37Z")
I think that HP scene, its not just coincidental - part of the point is to have harry embarassed by Myrtle for whatever reason. There’s other things in that book that make it slightly more of a teenage and less of a child’s book. So there’s two questions: is it normal to use nudity for comic effect otherwise important, and is it normal when a character is just in a situation where its natural. ---
**Author:** ![Dryga\_Yes](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/838e76/32.png) [@Dryga\_Yes](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dryga_Yes)\ **Post date:** [November 15, 2003, 3:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nudity-in-childrens-books-spoilers-very-likely-minor-harry-potter-spoiler-in-op/213254/37 "2003-11-15T15:30:11Z")
Q: Why do _Battle Royale_, _It_ and _Lord of the Flies_ have in common? A: Apparently they’re all children’s books 😕 ---
**Author:** ![Kyomara](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/8edcca/32.png) [@Kyomara](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kyomara)\ **Post date:** [November 15, 2003, 3:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nudity-in-childrens-books-spoilers-very-likely-minor-harry-potter-spoiler-in-op/213254/38 "2003-11-15T15:38:28Z")
I’m not sure why you should need any references at all, really. Your friend is the one who’s weird for feeling so uncomfortable about it. But then, I’ve been living in Japan for too long. Folks here take baths together all the time. Most little girls bathe with Daddy (and boys with Mommy) until age 6 or 7. Is that weird? ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\ **Post date:** [November 15, 2003, 3:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nudity-in-childrens-books-spoilers-very-likely-minor-harry-potter-spoiler-in-op/213254/39 "2003-11-15T15:39:53Z")
\*In Stephen King’s _It_, all of the kids get naked in the sewers after beating IT for the first time. Then they have a gang bang. [/quote] That was rather… disturbing. I mean King had to sit there and think about 10-year-olds having sex, and then he had to write it. Just a bit too creepy. ---
**Author:** ![KGS](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/90ced4/32.png) [@KGS](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KGS)\ **Post date:** [November 15, 2003, 5:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nudity-in-childrens-books-spoilers-very-likely-minor-harry-potter-spoiler-in-op/213254/40 "2003-11-15T17:43:39Z")
Ah, Judy Blume…the most famous hard-core kiddy porn writer of her time. I forgot all about her. Also in _Margaret_ (or maybe it was another Blume book) the girl spends a lot of time touching her “special place” – and she doesn’t know what it’s called, until her sex ed teacher brings up the subject of masturbation. But my favorite Blume novel was _Then Again, Maybe I Won’t_, about a young boy who scams a pair of binoculars out of his parents, so he can do a little peeping-Tom action on the lady next door. (He tells his parents he’s a birdwatcher, which, if you apply British slang to it, isn’t really a lie, right??) [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nudity-in-childrens-books-spoilers-very-likely-minor-harry-potter-spoiler-in-op/213254.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nudity-in-childrens-books-spoilers-very-likely-minor-harry-potter-spoiler-in-op/213254.md?page=3)