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The Publisher
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It had passed me by, but apparently the PA have been looking at placing ages onto the covers of children's books. I'm off to a meeting at Random House about it all on 29 April. More info to be found at: Project Age RangeBasically it seems there's a plan afoot to put one of: 0+ 5+ 7+ 9+ 12+ onto every book cover.  I think this is a terrible idea. Children's reading develops at dramatically different rates. A couple of very smart 6 year olds have been reading my Johnny Mackintosh book quite happily, while I know some 9 year olds who struggle with it. And the publisher has it in their catalogue as 12+! It seems to me that putting age guidance onto a cover will: * stigmatize poor readers who can't cope with a book they apparently should be reading * put off older readers who might otherwise be happier reading a book * encourage authors to write banal, safe books to ensure the age guidance doesn't get upped to too high a level for their intended market * probably lots more... However, the claim is 80-90% of people are crying out for it! Am I in a minority? What do YWO members think?
www.keithmansfield.co.ukjohnnymackintosh.comJohnny Mackintosh and the Spirit of London was published by Quercus on 3 July 2008
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visinker
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It sounds like a terrible idea to me. Don't know anything about children or their reading habits but it would seem to stigmatise slower readers - and that might make them give up altogether.
Read the titles of some of my erotica on my Website...  MadCow
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HJW
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No, no and no again. Really bad idea.
Oh blogger
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unclearthur
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I agree completely. Though my wife and I are avid readers and always have been, our daughter always struggled. That meant an easier to read 'younger age group' story encouraged her to finish a book. But having an age printed on the cover? How 'uncool' would that be - a great encouragement to struggling readers (not). 
This post was last edited by unclearthur, 28 Mar 2008, 22:05
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Cathf
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Terrible idea, for all the reasons given. Kids develop at different speeds, some love reading and will read anything and everything; others don't enjoy it much and struggle even with stuff intended for kids younger than them. And anything known to be deliberately written for older kids - Judy Blume's Forever, for example, were being passed around and sniggered over in primary schools the country over (even though many of us didn't understand it at all  ) Let kids develop how they want to and read what they want to. This is a scheme obviously designed for rather precious middle class parents who complain at the drop of a hat, I think.
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Crossmouse
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This is a marketing initiative aimed at 'anxious parents' and friends of anxious parents who want to buy books as presents. It has nothing to do with helping children to choose what read. It's a lousy idea and should be binned but it will probably be accepted because it will publishers are in thrall to marketing.
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The Publisher
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Thanks to everyone for commenting so far. If people are in favour then please don't be shy - I'm genuinely interested in discovering the balance of opinion. I think Crossmouse is right if you read the presentations on the site - it seems to be a device intended to aid gift-buying. But I'd suggest the arguments against it strongly outweigh this supposed benefit. The Society of Authors has been asking for feedback so unless others speak up I'll tell them the writers I've come across appear universally anti. I don't know what the intentions of the Random House meeting are but if I speak up against it at least it looks as though I can do so in the knowledge that lots of other people feel similarly.
www.keithmansfield.co.ukjohnnymackintosh.comJohnny Mackintosh and the Spirit of London was published by Quercus on 3 July 2008
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spotty leopard
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If you're collecting opinions, can I put myself down as an anti? My daughter, now eighteen, is a voracious reader and has been from an early age. She has always read through a wide range. As well as the 'age appropriate' books, she read accessible adult novels from early teens, while still reading The Beano and Famous Five books, often as comfort reading when tired or in bed with a cold. She read what she wanted, not what she felt she ought to. Surely it's in publishers' interests not to confine and regulate their readers? Look at the huge number of adults who bought Harry Potter to read themselves. I bet no one expected that.
LexiDo they want to steal your book? Visit my blog
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JDSmith
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My dad bought me Chronicles of Narnia when I was about 5. I'm not sure what age range they would be put under, but he bought them so he could read them to me, not to read alone. We would read them together, so to speak, and learnt a great deal following what he was reading on the page. In turn I then read to my brother. I still have a shelf full of children's books, and from time to time I still flick through them because the stories are good. As far as labelling for the shopper, bookshops already categorize books based on age range in the children's section, so there really isn't any need. This is just someone dreaming up unnecessary policies - as usual!
JD
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Lisa Hinsley
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Please no!
My daughter is dyslexic, and at age ten, was still essentially illiterate. She wants to read, but finds it very hard. Even now, at nearly thirteen, she reads comics - sometimes. Mostly she doesn't at all. In Year 1 (5-6 ages) she told me she wanted to die so she could come back and go to nursery school again. Imagine how bad she would have felt if the books had age ranges showing her once again how behind she was educationally?
On the converse my seven-year-old is way ahead, and is reading Enid Blyton without problem. I guess what I'm trying to say is you can't put an age on a book, because it seems to me any age would be a guess.
Lisa
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benkelly
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The early years are an age when readings jumps in leaps and bounds, setting a limit is wrong. In film, we try to do this, with the printed word, we cannot. This whole idea shows that of morons who need to box thought, who need to limit ideas and who need to classify and limit. Put my art into a box and show your own barriers. I'd be ashamed to belong to any industry that backed censorship and yet attempted to pass it off as guidelines.
This post was last edited by benkelly, 30 Mar 2008, 23:37
"Suck it up, say thank you and move on."
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The Publisher
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Quote: benkelly, Sunday, 30 Mar 2008 23:12I'd be ashamed to belong to any industry that backed censorship and yet attempted to pass it off as guidelines. The shame has indeed become too much. I have decided to end it all and self-guillotine 
www.keithmansfield.co.ukjohnnymackintosh.comJohnny Mackintosh and the Spirit of London was published by Quercus on 3 July 2008
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Tabby
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I've only just read this post and I'd heard that doing this was a possibility. My opinion is - they shouldn't. In most bookstores and libraries, children's books are already put into approximate age ranges and I think that is enough. 
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Cobble
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Quote: The Publisher, Tuesday, 1 Apr 2008 13:14Quote: benkelly, Sunday, 30 Mar 2008 23:12I'd be ashamed to belong to any industry that backed censorship and yet attempted to pass it off as guidelines. The shame has indeed become too much. I have decided to end it all and self-guillotine Wait! Wait! They've changed their minds! Oh Dear... 
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The Publisher
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Quote: Cobble, Tuesday, 1 Apr 2008 19:28Quote: The Publisher, Tuesday, 1 Apr 2008 13:14Quote: benkelly, Sunday, 30 Mar 2008 23:12I'd be ashamed to belong to any industry that backed censorship and yet attempted to pass it off as guidelines. The shame has indeed become too much. I have decided to end it all and self-guillotine Wait! Wait! They've changed their minds! Oh Dear... If they do, my sacrifice will have been worth it!  
www.keithmansfield.co.ukjohnnymackintosh.comJohnny Mackintosh and the Spirit of London was published by Quercus on 3 July 2008
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Project Age Range
28 Mar 2008, 20:18
