Julianne Moore ‘stunned' after Trump bans her children's book about freckles

Telegraph

18-02-2025

Julianne Moore's children's book 'Freckleface Strawberry' has been banned from military schools by the Trump administration, the actress has said.
The Oscar-winner said it was a 'great shock' to learn that her book about a child with freckles had been removed from shelves by the department of defence, adding that she was 'truly saddened' by the news.
The Boogie Nights and Still Alice star wrote on Instagram: 'It is a great shock for me to learn that my first book, Freckleface Strawberry, has been banned by the Trump Administration from schools run by the Department of Defense.'
Last Monday, the department of defence launched a 'compliance review' of library books in schools serving military families 'potentially related to gender ideology or discriminatory equity ideology topics'.
The novel, published in 2007, is the first in a series of semi-autobiographical children's stories by Moore about Freckleface Strawberry, a seven-year-old girl 'who's learning to love the skin she's in,' the book's website said.
Moore said she wrote the book for her own children and other kids 'to remind them that we all struggle, but are united by our humanity and our community'.
The book is based on the childhood experience of Moore, who says she had the nickname Freckleface Strawberry because of her distinctive red hair and freckles.
'As part of the review, books potentially related to gender ideology or discriminatory equity ideology topics as defined in the executive orders will be relocated to the professional staff collection for evaluation,' a department of defence education activity spokesman told CNN.
'During this period, access will be limited to professional staff.'
The Pentagon agency said that some books have been removed on a temporary basis as part of the review but none have been banned so far.
Moore, 64, said she was 'particularly stunned' by the news because she is the child of an army veteran and was educated at a department of defence school in Frankfurt.
'It is galling for me to realise that kids like me, growing up with a parent in the service and attending a [DoDEA] school will not have access to a book written by someone whose life experience is so similar to their own,' she wrote.
'I can't help but wonder what is so controversial about this picture book that causes it to be banned by the US government.'
As part of a memo announcing the library book crackdown, the department of defence education activity released a list of specific chapters and entire books that have been removed, pending their review.
Among the learning materials restricted so far are a book chapter from a psychology advanced-placement course for high school students on gender and sexuality, a lesson for 11-year-olds on how immigration affects the US and the book Becoming Nicole, a non-fiction work about a family learning to accept their transgender daughter.
The list, obtained by The Washington Post, also includes a biography about Albert Cashier, a transgender man who served during the Civil War, and a bundle of Black History Month materials for 12-year-olds.
It comes amid a row over freedom of speech in the US, with JD Vance warning the Munich Security Conference last week that freedom of speech was 'in retreat' in Britain.
The Trump administration has been criticised in turn for banning Associated Press journalists from the Oval Office and Air Force One over the agency's refusal to switch from calling the Gulf of Mexico the Gulf of America.
Pete Hegseth, the defence secretary, has pledged to route out diversity schemes throughout the military, banning transgender recruits and disbanding societies for Latin and female military academy recruits.
'I think the single, dumbest phrase in military history is, 'our diversity is our strength,'' he said last week.