Hi chaps have you seen this on the BBC News website?

BBC NEWS | Scotland | Edinburgh, East and Fife | Concern over age bands for books

I remeber reading about the similar reaction when Comic Books were labelled with ratings bringing forth a wonderful insight from Alan Moore:

" You may aswell label them "Full of Tits and Innards!" "

What does everyone else think?

DG

To be honest I don't see what all the fuss is about (other than Morpurgo trying to get more publicity as if he needs it, the biggest shock is Jacqueline Wilson hasn't waded in spotting the latest bandwagon....)

Bookshops already display books under signs saying 'Pre-school books' '4-7' etc so why not pop age suggestions on the books.....its quite difficult for grandparents, aunts and uncles etc buying books for kids if they don't regularly read with them to know what the kids reading levels and likes are. It will give people a sort of starter.

And its not as if the age suggestions are going to be mandatory. In fact the coolness of reading books 'above' your recommended age might spur some kids to read more. My eldest daughter reads incessantly (its massively difficult this summer hols to get her to put a book down and come outside to play) and way above her age if you believe the bandings on bookshop shelves or in book magazines. She loves the fact that we think she's mature enough to watch (with us!) films that 12+ or 15 ratings, so if the publishers put a recommended age on books she'll be reading Tolstoy before you blink.

The magazines realised the positive effect on sales of putting ages on - I remember the thrill of walking out of newsagents with my Just Seventeen magazine when I was only 14! Haha I beat the system....or so I naively thought.

At least we're not banning books and getting back to the awful days of Section 28

I've been reading Stephen King since the age of 12, but I generally can't watch horror films. I've seen some adaptations of King books & they're usually pants but I don't know why I'm not as scared by the books.

ooh thanks DG; i did my dissertation on this very subject, especially in regards to books such as the Shining and it's subsequent rating at the cinema. My arguement was that personal experience affects how you read and sometimes, as a child, the monsters can only be as evil as you can imagine. Movies on the other hand can show you things you would never have dreamt of...

Ha Tempest, we blatantly used to egg each other on to go buy Just Seventeen when we were in first year. Being two foot tall I was always the mighty champion if successful but really i was more shocked by 'More's' Position of the Week then J17!

xx

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I would've said the imagination was more powerful than seeing things on a screen, but seeing something with my eyes made it more real to me than reading about t

We did that too

The Alan Moore system would be much better. A bit like the BBFC information for movies, I'd know what I could expect and so buy accordingly.

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This thing about having age labels on books has been rattling around for AGES. If I remember rightly, JK Rowling said 'Nope' and the idea was pretty much dead in the water.

It *is* a great thing if reading a book listed for an older child helps spur on a younger child - the kudos etc. However, there have been greater concerns raised at how it would put off a child who had difficulties reading. Imagine the playground ' whatcha reading - ooooh babies books!'

Other than baby picture books, I really don't think that books need to be labelled. You just need parents/grannies that can help kids progress with their reading - whatever their reading abilities.

I feel that lots of books are currently mislabelled anyway! His Dark Materials Trilogy, for example, has a child as the heroine, but these should in no way be limited by the label 'children's book'.

Sorry about the rant! Am a writer and reviewer in my 'real' life and the issues around children's reading material really get me going

AliX

I agree with you on this. I read the Shining and wasn't at all scared, not in the slightest. But I had to turn the film off halfway through because it terrified me so much.

Whereas some books I can't read because they upset me due to personal experience, and this includes some books that might be suitable for children. One book I had to read for my course is "Secret Friends", intended as a book for children. I was sobbing by the end of it.

Authors such as Jacqueline Wilson can cover difficult topics for children such as divorce and death. I'm not a fan of Wilson myself, but I do think this is fantastic. It helps prepare children for things that may or may not happen in their lives. Marking these as "12+" probably wouldn't be the best idea.

Also, I was a very advanced reader at school, but was limited to unchallenging books because I wasn't old enough to read the "11+" books in the library.

However, I guess the parents can decide which books are suitable for their children and choose accordingly.

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i was a very advanced reader - i had read everything in my reading carriculum way early and went on to read whatever i wanted . . .

i read jackie collins at the age of 13 !!! - secretly

i even read erica jong fear of flying before i was 15 . .

i do think age guides might be usefull like 0-5 , 5-10 , 10 - 12 , 12- 15
and then to have 18 and overs makes sense too ... but to be as specific as age 9 is really way off the mark .

parents don't really have time to read a whole book before they buy it to see if its suitable !! so guides are quite usefull.

x x x

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Ooh, this is quite interesting, Im not sure how well rating books would work as it may actually have the reverse effect than that intended-alot of teenagers and adults in the UK have low reading ages and they may feel inferior or be bullied for reading younger books....AND to be honest, some kids books are better written than adults books.....

Like Violet Ecstasy and others I was a manic and advanced reader-before the age of 12 had to be given an adult library card coz kids could only take out 3 books and I was coming back every two days to get more books lol

I read everything I could get my hands on esp Stephen King and Dean Koontz (read EVERY book the library had by my 13th) but to this day cant watch horror films....

This is partly my parents fault-they bought me some comic books when I was 8 They soon confiscated them ( Elvira Mistress of the Dark wasnt intended for that age group....they let me keep Wonder Woman and Animal man- a skewered dolphin on the front cover being eminently more suitable than a scantily clad lady )

I still love comics (c) I a geek hehe Hmm, wonder if my early run in with Elvira started my love for burlesque.......?

Axx

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