children's books

[Amy Z]

I'm spinning this thread from the main list discussion of the Booker 
Prize, children's books, etc.


Pullman:  IMO, The Amber Spyglass is by no means a children's book; 
His Dark Materials was victim of the same publishing reasoning as HP 
(11 yo protagonist=for children, an assumption I find rather chilling) 
even though the books are way more adult than HP and I don't even 
think HP belongs on the children's list--certainly not if it's going 
to mean "for children only, and any adult who reads it on his/her own 
must be very childish."

HDM is about the difference between childhood and adulthood, and the 
process of moving from one to the other.  Last time I looked, adults 
as well as children were keenly interested in this phenomenon.

B. wrote:

> Actually, the 'concise' thing is one part of part of why I 
> don't think the Potter books can be classified as "children's books" 
-
> at 700 pages, GoF is longer than a lot of "adult" novels.

And yet children by the millions unhesitatingly read the whole thing. 

I think the problem is that the categorizers have some odd, limiting 
ideas of what adults and children are challenged by and interested in. 
 The Booker prize is defined as something like the best book written 
in English in the Commonwealth.  Period.  The judges can decide for 
themselves which book that is without knowing who the publishers 
intended to read it.  IMO, The Amber Spyglass shouldn't win the Booker 
Prize <listies who know about Amy's HDM obsession keel over in shock>, 
but I'm not on the panel this year.  Next time.  <g>

Bente, I agree with you that subject matter is a major factor in 
categorization--as it should be.  But why then is Lord of the Flies 
for children?  IIRC, it is a particularly grim look at power, mob 
rule, religious fanaticism, and murder.  I don't think it's the 
subtlest or best-crafted book, so in that sense it is suited to 
children (I recall thinking it was a bit obvious when I read it at 14, 
but I was a little snob), but in terms of subject matter it is very 
adult.

I have got to read Holes.  It's been out every time I've gone to the 
library.

Amy Z