HOUSTON – A children’s book about a tooth fairy has been removed from a Spring Branch ISD elementary school, despite the author reading the book to students several times in the past at Hunters Creek Elementary.
The book, The Goose Fairy and the Golden Egg, is about a tooth fairy-in-training who has to overcome adversity with a goose by working together while they become friends.
"I wrote this book many years ago when my daughter was really little and there weren’t a lot of depictions of same sex families and so I wanted it as a gift to her," author and father Michael Pearce told KPRC 2.
The book was published in 2016 and it features illustrations of Pearce’s family: His daughter, his son, and his husband.
"I wanted a book that wasn‘t talking about why men should or should not be allowed to be married. It wasn’t talking about politics. It was just showing my daughter’s family so she could feel like every other kid in school and see herself represented because representation matters and my family’s not a political statement. The pictures in here, we’re not even characters. We don’t talk," Pearce said.
Within the last week, he learned the book had been removed from the school’s library, but not from Spring Branch ISD or the school principal.
“It was supposedly a complaint from a person anonymously, that went directly to the school board, and a board of adults decided that was scary,” Pearce said. "I’m here to tell you, I’m not a political statement. I’m not scary. I’m just a family who wrote a book about kindness for his daughter ... It shocks me in a sad way because when it happened, the very first thing I said is, ‘My God, it feels like 2003′," he said.
According to the American Library Association, Texas was home to the most attempts to ban or restrict books last year.
“We’ve gotten into this book banning world in Texas and in other places. If this is a book that can be banned, does that make you worry about what else may be getting removed?” KPRC 2’s Bryce Newberry asked.
“I think that’s probably the most, the biggest part of the story for me is that it’s not about me or my family. It’s about we’re in a political climate where anybody who is in an underrepresented group, a marginalized group, continues to be a whipping child,” Pearce said.
He hasn’t been able to get a straight answer from the district about why the book was removed. Neither has KPRC 2.
“Please explain to me how two parents who love their family is a threat. How a family, because I am different have any less right than you,” Pearce said.
Spring Branch ISD has refused to answer any questions about the district’s book removal policy or why this particular book was removed. A spokesperson for the district instructed KPRC 2 to submit a records request, which has been done, but the process for getting any answers can be drawn out.
Spring Branch ISD’s online policy shows a committee, which should include “at least one member of the instructional staff who has experience using the challenged material with students or is familiar with the challenged material’s content ... at least one District-level staff member, one campus administrator, one teacher, and one parent,” is tasked with reviewing challenged library materials.
The committee is supposed to “weigh the strengths and weaknesses of the challenged material and shall determine if material in question remains educationally suitable."
However, KPRC 2 has not been able to verify that process was followed in the case of this book as the district has not answered any questions.