*eyeroll*

[conuly]

If I ask you "what does age-appropriate mean", please don't respond by saying "the right level for her actual age". See, if I knew what you considered to be "the right level for her age", I wouldn't have asked that question in the first place!

Edit: If you're curious, I'm mostly miffed because (mihi) she didn't answer my question so much as rephrase her original statement - but if I'd known what her original statement meant to begin with, I would not have had to ask the question. I usually don't ask leading questions like that just for fun.

Comments

[leora.livejournal.com]

From the term cognitive and the example, I think the person means that this is a 13 year old of roughly average abilities, and she is concerned about the reading level of the writing and concepts contained. Not a matter of censoring content, (for things like sex, drugs, etc.) so much as making sure the child will be able to understand and enjoy the story.

[beccak1961.livejournal.com]

Even within that parameter there is genre to consider. My boys are less than two years apart and yet they wanted very different books. One was into Goosebumps while the other was into Jules Verne. It's just too variable to not narrow it down a little.

[leora.livejournal.com]

Oh, I agree with that. But I get the feeling that the problem is the writer doesn't know the child or the child's reading tastes well enough. But the problem isn't the term "age appropriate", it's just that picking reading matter is a bit individual.

The last time I was trying to find a good book for a child, it was a child around age 9, and even walking through a library and discussing what she was looking for, it took several tries. Some of my suggestions she had already read, some she wasn't interested in, but we found something. :) Plus, apparently pleased a librarian to see people who are knowledgeable about children's books, clearly enjoy them, and are able to help a child pick a good book.

[beccak1961.livejournal.com]

Yes, I found gift certificates stuffed in Christmas stockings to be the ideal compromise. Now my 21 year old is into the mange (manga, but I give him crap about it) and the 20 year old is really varied in what he will read.

[bridgetester.livejournal.com]

Plus, apparently pleased a librarian to see people who are knowledgeable about children's books, clearly enjoy them, and are able to help a child pick a good book.

I still have fun doing informal Reader's Advisory. :)

[conuly]

But there's no average 13 year old. (And at any rate, once I'd already asked "what on earth do you mean by that", the answer isn't "I mean the same exact thing I already told you, just with bigger words")

[leora.livejournal.com]

True, but the US has well-defined reading levels for what the expected reading ability of a 13 year old is. I think it's a large part bunk, but that is more or less what was meant.

You asked along which axis the age-appropriateness was intended to apply (i.e. sex, magic, etc.) and you received an answer - cognitive ability. I do feel that her answer conveyed enough information to know what she meant. I just think what she meant is a not enough information to pick a good book for a child, but that's a separate issue.

[conuly]

I agree with you on the latter part (but you knew that) if not the former - I certainly still have no idea what she meant. But there's no profit in arguing this for the rest of our lives.