Banned & Brilliant - Advent Calendar Card

Banned & Brilliant – 24-Door Calendar for Book Lovers

A hand-illustrated 24-door calendar of 24 once-banned classics: find the hidden doors and guess the rebellious book behind each one.

Step into a secret, candle-lit library. Some books are chained, some are wrapped in brown paper and red ribbon, and a rebel librarian is smuggling one out in his satchel.

Hidden around the scene are 24 little doors: a tiny door is hidden on a chained book, a wax seal, a locked cabinet or a barrel. Behind each one is a once-banned or challenged classic, drawn as a small scene from the book. Every day for 24 days, find the door, open it and guess.

How it works

1. Find the door. Search the picture for today’s number.
2. Open it. A hand-drawn picture is waiting inside.
3. Guess. Guess the book, then find out why it was banned on the answer sheet.
4. Check the answers on day 24. All 24 books, authors and the reason each was banned or challenged, on an illustrated answer sheet in its own envelope.

Why readers adore it

• The books that dared: Huckleberry Finn, Ulysses, Alice in Wonderland, Frankenstein, Les Misérables…
• Surprising reasons: talking animals, naughty novels, dangerous ideas.
• Hand-illustrated artwork: a secret library full of chains, ribbons and hidden doors.
• A conversation starter: perfect for readers who love Banned Books Week all year round.
• Screen-free and sugar-free: a daily ritual for rebels.

Perfect for: Readers, librarians, teachers, booksellers, anyone who has ever been told ‘you shouldn’t read that’, and friends who love trivia with a twist.

What’s included

• 1 illustrated 24-door calendar, A4 landscape (21 × 29.7 cm / 8.3 × 11.7 in), with 24 perforated doors
• 1 illustrated answer sheet
• 1 illustrated “The Answers” envelope to keep the solutions secret until door 24

Good to know

• All books are classics now in the public domain. The calendar contains no food or treats.
• The text is in English. Younger children may need a grown-up to help open the small paper doors.