ABSTRACT
Children stop reading when they reach their teens, which upsets not only teachers but also publishers under economic pressure and with an eye to the future. Mainstream publishers routinely categorize literature as for ‘adults’ or ‘children’, and subdivide children’s books by age—‘for older children’—and by gender. Classifying books in this way raises both ideological and practical difficulties. Where does the line between childhood and adulthood fall? Is the distinction between power and powerlessness, experience and innocence, competence and incompetence, paid work and study? Are the preoccupations and literary needs of children fundamentally different from those of adults or is the distinction a way of opening up new markets? And when and why do girls’ books start to differ from boys’?
