The Bookseller.com

7th January 2009

Scott Pack is publisher at The Friday Project, an imprint of HarperCollins.

Grown-up guidance

23.10.08

Not even a charitable observer would describe the recent implementation of age-ranging as a success. Other words spring to mind, but they would probably be edited out if I included them here. The whole thing has created quite a kerfuffle but it is really far too early to tell how it is going to fare in the long term.

Unbeknownst to many, however, age-ranging has already been in place across a whole genre for some years—manga. Most manga books have an age recommendation on the back: A for All Ages, T for Teen and T+ for Older Teen. You could be forgiven for not noticing
because a) readers ignore it and b) the guidance is often wrong, because the ages are set too high so as not to antagonise uptight Americans. The system means well, but is rendered impotent by its inaccuracy.

Which is going to be the main problem facing the broader age-ranging for children's books. What age do you put on the book? Should you reflect the actual age of the reader or their reading age? Do you play it safe to avoid offending the sort of blinkered parent who objects to the word “twat” when their children are using much worse in the playground? Or should we be opening up the magical world of books to every child with a desire to be entertained, excited and carried away in a story?

People do get overly precious when it comes to books, and children's books especially, so it can be hard to separate the logical arguments from those of the Luddites who will avoid change at all costs. Many neutrals will probably have a natural inclination against age-ranging but things aren't as simple as that.

If you don't believe me then pop in to your local children's department and observe for a few minutes. Supposing you aren't moved along for kiddie watching, you will see bemused adults wandering around without the foggiest idea what they are doing. They are lost, bless them. The kids are fine, but many of the grown-ups are confused and helpless.

Which brings us to the main point. Age-ranging isn't for kids at all. It is for adults who haven't a clue how to buy books for children. Many undoubtedly need help, but will age-ranging prove to be the right method? And is it worth implementing when it is pissing off so many authors? Only time will tell, but it strikes me that we already have wonderful tools (if they'll forgive the expression) for helping customers find the right book: they are called booksellers.