Amy Timberlake’s humorous picture book, The Dirty Cowboy, (Farrar, 2003) is staying off elementary school library shelves in Pennsylvania’s Annville-Cleona school district.

Despite protests by free-speech organizations and an online petition with more than 300 signatures in favor of repealing the ban, the school board last week stuck to its decision that the book was too dirty for young eyes.

The award-winning book tells the tale of a freckle-faced cowboy who decides to take his annual bath in a nearby river and [...]