ESCONDIDO : ‘Headless Cupid’ to Remain in Libraries

The school board has voted unanimously to keep “The Headless Cupid” in elementary school libraries, despite a complaint by two parents that it contains references to the occult.

At a school board meeting Thursday night, other parents spoke in favor of the award-winning book, saying it would be wrong to censor the work. The board agreed, voting 5 to 0 to retain the 1971 book, an award-winning tale of a little girl who lives in a fantasy world because of family problems.

Wayne and Gwen Ervin of Escondido had complained in January that the book by Zilpha Keatley Snyder may prompt children who read it to “develop an unhealthy interest in the occult, thinking its practices are acceptable behavior.” One passage the parents objected to involved advice to relax and think of nothing in order to go into a trance.

Their complaint came in the midst of a furor over another book, “The Witches,” which now is restricted to use by students who first obtain parental permission to read it.