Julianne Moore: My Kids Book About Freckles Was Banned

Last week, the Defense Department issued a memo noting it had started reviewing books in schools for military families operated by the DoD—and now an Oscar-winning actor says her children's book is one that's been pulled from library shelves. "It is a great shock for me to learn that my first book, Freckleface Strawberry, has been banned by the Trump Administration," May December and Magnolia star Julianne Moore wrote Sunday on Instagram, referring to her picture book for 4- to 8-year-olds about a young girl who at first tries to hide the freckles covering her face and body, then learns she's A-OK just the way she is.

The book is said to be semi-autobiographical based on the redheaded, freckle-faced Moore's own experiences, per USA Today. Moore explains she's "particularly stunned" because she herself was a military brat who graduated from a DoD school in Germany; her dad was a Vietnam War vet. The Washington Post notes the affected schools fall under the umbrella of the Department of Defense Education Activity, which operates more than 160 schools around the globe for about 67,000 kids of service members.

It's not entirely clear why Moore's book raised a red flag, or whether it's still being reviewed or permanently yanked, but a DoDEA spokesman tells the Post in a statement that the agency is poring over "instructional resources" in order to "ensure compliance with applicable executive orders and Department of Defense guidance." He goes on to say that any books "potentially related to gender ideology or discriminatory equity ideology" would be pulled from their regular spots on library shelves for evaluation.

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Other books pulled in the blanket "compliance review" include Kathleen Krull's No Truth Without Ruth (about Ruth Bader Ginsburg) and Becoming Nicole, a nonfiction book about a transgender child, per the Guardian. "It is galling for me to realize that kids like me, growing up with a parent in the service ... will not have access to a book written by someone whose life experience is so similar to their own," Moore wrote in her post. "I can't help but wonder what is so controversial about this picture book that [caused] it to be banned by the US Government. I am truly saddened and never thought I would see this in a country where freedom of speech and expression is a constitutional right." (More book ban stories.)