My Dr Midas series is aimed at children aged 8-12 and whenever I approach an agent or publisher that is one detail I always include. Publishers also publish their children's books in these catagories and visitor to Waterstones or WH Smith or Borders will also be used to seeing similar groupings used.
As a youngster I used to like reading anthologies called 'Stories for (7, 8 etc) year olds' and was a regular visitor to my local library where children's books were shelved according to age range so the move to 'guidance' labels on books seems natural to me - and after all we do it with films and computer games.
I understand concerns that some children struggling with reading may be put off by being seen reading a story aimed at a younger audience but if the scheme encourages more adults to buy books for youngsters then that has to be good - and of course the more you read the better you get at it.
Bookseller.com now reports that most children's publishers have backed plans to introduce age guidance for children's books, beginning with reprints this spring, then new books in the autumn. Hachette, Penguin, Random House, Scholastic, HarperCollins, A & C Black, Egmont Press, Evan Publishing Group, Faber, Macmillan, Orion, OUP and Simon & Schuster are all onboard for the scheme. A black and white design will be placed on the back of their books, near the bar code, with the categories of 5+, 7+, 9+, 11+ and 13+/teen based on reading level interest rather than ability.
Research conducted in autumn 2006 showed 86% of book buyers would back the plans for guidance on books, with 40% saying that they would be more likely to buy more books if they featured guidance.
Elaine McQuade, managing director of Scholastic UK said: "Many people in the industry have opposed the idea of age ranging but have had to think again once they have seen the results of this research."
Wayne Winstone, Waterstone's children's category manager, said: "We already classify books into age ranges so, from our point of view, systematic age ranging is less of a value to specialist booksellers than to non-specialists like supermarkets."
While Sonia Benster of the Children's Bookshop said: "I can see how age ranging would support non-specialists and the chains and may help publishers drive sales. But you also run the risk of putting children off picking up books because the age range is too young, and of aspirational parents buying books that are too old for their child."
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