Why was Freckleface Strawberry banned? Author Julianne Moore speaks out after children’s book banned in DOD schools

Julianne Moore is stunned since the Trump administration banned her 2007 book, Freckleface Strawberry, from schools.

Moore shared the news on her Instagram on February 16, 2025, and wrote:

“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.”

In the caption, she described the book as a,

“Semi-autobiographical story about a seven-year-old girl who dislikes her freckles but eventually learns to live with them when she realizes that she is different “just like everybody else.”

Expressing her sorrow she further questioned what was so “controversial” about the picture book that made the US government ban it. She expressed her shock and said,

“I am truly saddened and never thought I would see this in a country where freedom of speech and expression is a constitutional right.”

According to Deadline, the book was banned as the U.S. Department of Defense ordered a purge of books related to gender, race and sexuality, following President Donald Trump’s orders. This comes after the Department of Defense Education Activity sent a memo to parents on February 10, 2025.

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What did the memo sent by the Department of Defense Education Activity say?

The Defense Department sent a memo, signed by the director Beth Schiavino-Narvaez, to the parents stating that the books were banned as part of a "compliance" review of books "potentially related to gender ideology or discriminatory equity ideology topics."

According to the DODEA memo the message read,

“In light of the President’s recent Executive Orders titled "Defending Women from Gender Ideology Extremism and Restoring Biological Truth to the Federal Government" and “Ending Radical Indoctrination in K-12 Schooling,” DoDEA is conducting an operational compliance review to ensure alignment with the Executive Orders.”

The letter added that,

“DoDEA is committed to its core mission in support of the Warfighter – providing a top tier education to our military-connected students.”

According to Julianne Moore's Instagram post, she is a graduate of Frankfurt American High School, a Department of Defense school, and the daughter of a Vietnam War veteran who had a long career in the U.S. Army.

In the conclusion of her post, she credited the non-profit organization, Pen America for bringing the ban to her attention. The organisation slammed the Trump administration in its Instagram post shared on February 14, 2025, indicating how the ban has affected “67,000 children around the world” and wrote:

“The removal of these titles is yet another indicator of the new Administration's flippant and autocratic approach to K-12 education.”

A report in Variety indicated that other books that have been banned included No Truth Without Ruth: The Life of Ruth Bader Ginsburg, a picture book written by award-winning author Kathleen Kull and Becoming Nicole, which tells the story of Nicole Maines, a transgender activist. The book is reportedly written by Amy Ellis Nutt.