To think books should have age certificates

[mrswhiskerson]

There is a debate going on at the minute about certifying music videos which I do agree with , I love music videos and some of them can be real works of art but I do not want my ds watching close ups of rihannas bum boobs or crotch. I also shouldn't have to not be able to watch the music channel while I am doing my ironing for fear of ds watching three am a
half minutes of soft porn.

What has surprised me though is no one ever mentions books. I have been an avid reader since childhood and some of the things I read were to old for me a notable book was American psycho which I read at fifteen after the film came out , it really disturbed me . Isn't the imagination worse than what you see? There is nothing in place to stop young people buying horrific books from waterstones and the like and these books could have a negative effect.

oooh, no I haven't seen the Carol Matas books - I'll look at that now.
they're both out of print! :(
(Daniel's story looks like an American import...)

I have only got the children's version of Anne Frank at the moment - mainly because they seem to read it in year 6, and I didn't know if the uneditted version would get parents' backs up.
But I'll reconsider.

I also usually stock I Have Lived a Thousand Years by Livia Bitton-jackson. Unfortunately, the nice B format paperback with a good cover is out of print, and the only one available is the A format paperback with a hideous cover (it's the same picture, but in a slightly different colour scheme, and it's not appealing to children in that format)
Do read it if you can.

Tortu. Was talking to my 19 year old DD the other day and asked her what she thought was the most important educational thing that I had taught her. She said ' well apart from doing as the teacher said it was that reading was fun and books were special'. She always has read anything and everything, we roll around laughing as she critiques Mills and Boon books and yet she loves Shakespeare. Variety is truely the spice of life. Also the ability to recognise that what you are reading is crap but suits that moment in your life. Reading isn't all about only reading 'good' literature although it has it's place.

mrswhiskerson, I did let my dd read the Twilight saga and discussed it with her- I thought it was an excellent opportunity to discuss important things like what makes a good relationship and how do you tell a dodgy man.

you could help on this thread

I've explained it all in the thread, but basically, a local book lcub that's jsut starting needs a name. :)
(please please?)

oh, I can't find Daniel's story at the moment in print, but I bet it's available at any well-known bookshop that sells second-hand etc.

Another school librarian who doesn't want age certificates here!
And...I was a precocious reader as well...and yeah, some of the things I read were probably a bit beyond my comprehension, but I had parents I could talk with about the things I was reading. They never discouraged me from reading anything: their view was that they were raising me with the right values, and nothing in a book was going to undo any of that. They were right. I also found that violence in books was 'easier' than on TV...I could always skip ahead, or abandon a book...which is a bit challenging with a film or TV show.