<P> Caged Bird has been criticized by many parents, causing it to be removed from school curricula and library shelves . The book was approved to be taught in public schools and was placed in public school libraries through the U.S. in the early 1980s, and was included in advanced placement and gifted student curricula, but attempts by parents to censor it began in 1983 . It has been challenged in 15 U.S. states . Educators have responded to these challenges by removing it from reading lists and libraries, by providing students with alternatives, and by requiring parental permission from students . Some have been critical of its sexually explicit scenes, use of language, and irreverent religious depictions . </P> <P> Caged Bird appeared third on the American Library Association (ALA) list of the 100 Most Frequently Challenged Books of 1990--2000, sixth on the ALA's 2000--2009 list, and one of the ten books most frequently banned from high school and junior high school libraries and classrooms . </P> <P> A made - for - TV movie version of I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings was filmed in Mississippi and aired on April 28, 1979 on CBS . Angelou and Leonora Thuna wrote the screenplay; the movie was directed by Fielder Cook . Constance Good played young Maya . Also appearing were actors Esther Rolle, Roger E. Mosley, Diahann Carroll, Ruby Dee, and Madge Sinclair . Two scenes in the movie differed from events described in the book . Angelou added a scene between Maya and Uncle Willie after the Joe Louis fight; in it, he expresses his feelings of redemption and hope after Louis defeats a white opponent . Angelou also presents her eighth grade graduation differently in the film . In the book, Henry Reed delivers the valedictory speech and leads the Black audience in the Negro national anthem . In the movie, Maya conducts these activities . </P> <Ol> <Li> Jump up ^ Angelou returned to Dunbar's poem for the title of her sixth autobiography, A Song Flung Up to Heaven (2002). </Li> <Li> Jump up ^ There are over 100 references to literary characters in Angelou's first six autobiographies . </Li> <Li> Jump up ^ Hagen, in his analysis of Caged Bird, goes through the book and lists all the folk stories and jokes Angelou refers to and uses . </Li> </Ol>

Summary of the story i know why the caged bird sings