BAN URGED ON POPULAR SCHOOLBOOK; PARENTS DISLIKE STORIES' CONTENT.

Byline: Cecilia Chan Staff Writer

A best-selling children's book about a boy wizard learning magic at a school called Hogwarts is not only rousing the imagination of young readers but anger from some parents who want the book banned from classrooms.

``Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban,'' the third in the popular series, debuted last month to rave reviews and eager anticipation from fans, who mobbed the Internet for the book before it hit the U.S. market. In the latest work by British author J.K. Rowling, a mass murderer is thought to be heading for Hogwarts - a plot that some local parents think is too dark for youngsters.

``I found the material to be offensive and didn't want my son, as a young fourth-grader, listening to that material,'' said Cynthia Kersey, whose son Andy attends Simi Elementary School. ``There are much better literary choices to be read to children, such as classics. Just because something is popular doesn't mean it's edifying for children's minds.''

School district officials say that aside from volumes on the required reading list, it's pretty much up to the teachers to decide what is appropriate in their classroom.

``Teachers use a variety of supplemental material,'' said Madge Lamb, director of curriculum and instruction with the Las Virgenes Unified School District. ``It's their professional judgment if they want to bring something in and use it in the classroom.''

Challenges allowed

District policy, however, does allow for parents to challenge any of the instructional material, Lamb said.

Kersey has instructed Andy's teachers to dismiss him during the classroom reading time. So while his peers listen to Harry Potter's latest exploits in battling the forces of darkness led by Lord Voldemart, Andy is reading ``The Swiss Family Robinson.''

Because of Kersey's complaint, a committee of parents, teachers and administrators will convene to read the book and make a recommendation - one that could range from ``it's a perfect book to we don't think it's appropriate for the elementary level or for school,'' said Becky Wetzel, the school district's director of elementary education.

She said in her eight years at the district about five books have been challenged by parents. A committee over the summer rendered a decision on a required reading book at the middle schools, ``The Giver,'' and found that it was more appropriate for high school because of its sophistication, she said.

Award winners

The book had garnered a highly coveted children's award and came recommended for sixth- and seventh-grade reading levels.

``We are very careful to look at the material so we are not in that banning-books kind of mode,'' Wetzel said. ``Is this material appropriate, and where is it appropriate? We have a K-12 school (system) here, and somewhere this book may have value to some students somewhere.''

She said the district will make accommodations for students uncomfortable listening to the Harry Potter books.

Kersey said if the school doesn't ban the book, she will hand out fliers alerting parents to the content.

That's what happened in Moorpark, where Teresa and Dominic Schmidt asked that their son, Brandon, be removed from his fourth-grade class at Walnut Canyon Elementary School because the teacher was reading Harry Potter. Because classes at his original school were full, he transferred to Flory Elementary.

``It was a horrible book,'' said Teresa Schmidt, who read the first installment, ``Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone.''

``It talked about death and killing. It talks about drinking animal blood. That is witchcraft, and as a religion it doesn't belong in school.''

Controversial material

Schmidt, who monitors what Brandon watches on television, said the book teaches rebellion and alludes to drug use.

``If kids don't eat a wholesome dinner are you going to let them have candy?'' Schmidt asked. ``This is basically the candy they are giving them - garbage in, garbage out.

``I don't think entertainment should be during class time. If parents buy the book and read out of class time, that's fine.''

She said she expects the fourth Harry Potter book to be even worse because the author has said she will kill off one of the beloved characters in the series.

Schmidt said she is working to get schools to have a censored book list.

``Teachers can read whatever they want without any boundary,'' she said. ``They have to go by some sort of curriculum. They can't pick a book off the wall because it's popular. Popular is not always the best.''

This isn't the first time a book has generated such uproar in Moorpark. In 1992, a member of the NAACP unsuccessfully asked the Moorpark Unified School District to ban ``The Cay'' from classroom reading lists, saying it promoted racial stereotyping.

Parents from other states such as Georgia, New York and Minnesota have complained to school librarians that the Harry Potter books dealt with witchcraft, said Beverly Becker, associate director of the Office for Intellectual Freedom with the American Library Association in Chicago. The association publishes a newsletter every other month highlighting attempted censorship of reading material.

``Our feeling is that it's a parent's right if they don't want their children to read that book,'' Becker said. ``But other children and other parents have the right to have access to the book and use the book.

``We would hope (teachers) give an alternative selection if it's a required reading book,'' she said. ``We believe in access to all sorts of information and diversity of opinions.''

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Photo

PHOTO (color -- ran in Simi and Conejo only) Cynthia Kersey holds a copy of `Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone,' a book she says is inappropriate for her son Andy, 9, to read in fourth grade. According to one woman, the series' theme - about a boy learning to become a wizard - is ``witchcraft, and as a religion it doesn't belong in school.''

Joe Binoya/Special to the Daily News