Oh, bollocks!

There is a Newberry-winning book, The Higher Power of Lucky that is being banned from libraries because it has the word "scrotum" in it.

Nevermind that scrotum is the medically accurate term for something half the audience has, apparently knowing this will Scar The Children Forever. (Much like answering a nine year old girl's question "A vagina is the thing between your legs" was too much for a woman who demanded that the title "Vagina Monologues" be changed since her niece asked what it meant.)

"The inclusion of genitalia does not add to the story one bit and that is my objection," said Dana Nilsson, a teacher and librarian from Durango, Colorado. "Because of that one word, I would not be able to read that book aloud...you won't find men's genitalia in quality literature ... At least not for children."

Neil Gaiman, bless his cotton socks and brass equipment has posted a whole list of children's books that mention scrotums. (He's left out My Friend Flicka, one of my own favorites, which has a graphic scene of colt castration, including explanation of what a "risling" was.)

And on a side note, Josh Steichmann's excellent editorial on the subject. [T]he idea that children have to be protected from all sex and discussions thereof is more emblematic of a repressed adult mind than any real risk, and the ways lines are drawn are nearly always insulting.