Harry Potter For All Ages, Says Rowling
RSSBy Amrisa Niranjan -- School Library Journal, 07/22/2008
J. K. Rowling added her name to the long electronic petition on NoToAgeBanding.org, alongside other heavyweights in the business such as Anthony Horowitz, Terry Pratchett, and Alan Garner. Illustrators of children’s literature, including Quentin Blake, Anne Fine, and Jacqueline Wilson, have also taken a stand in the issue.
NoToAgeBanding is a group that was created by Philip Pullman, author of His Dark Materials, after research by the Children’s Book Group of the Publisher’s Association stated that a majority of consumers preferred age labels on books. Soon after, major children’s publishers, such as Random House, Penguin, and Scholastic gave their support to age labels.
According to Pullman, “to tell a story as well and inclusively as possible, and then find someone at the door turning readers away, is contrary to everything we value about books, and reading, and literature itself.”
Petition signers such as Rowling agree, feeling that age banding is not simply a classification, but also a restriction on books and readers. Rowling’s U. K. publisher, Bloomsbury, has no plans to label the author’s work. Lesser-known names in literature may not be so lucky, however. Perhaps Rowling’s name will be enough to make publishers think twice before branding books with ages.
