to think that the words *'sex maniac'* should not be written in a book aimed at 7-11 year olds?

[Shallistopnow]

Its in 'Best Friends' by Jacqueline Wilson in a section where a boy and girl are having a scrap and she is trying to pull down his trousers. I chose not to read that bit to my daughter. Not impressed!

I KNEW you were going to say it was Jaqueline Wilson. In my opinion her books are the literary version of Eastenders for kids.

Utter shite and full of "shocking" bits which salacious kids just lap up but which don't do them any favours.

Jacqueline Wilson's books are full of this sort of thing. They are not really appropriate for younger children from happy, sheltered backgrounds who have never experienced any of the topics discussed in her books. I'd say the same about watching Tracy Beaker on TV TBH - the attitudes towards authority and behaviour of those children displayed is not something you want your 8-year-old emulating or becoming familiar with.

However, for slightly older children her books offer a great window into a different world, and provided the adult is prepared to talk through the issues raised in those books, a wonderful way of teaching empathy understanding for other people's lives and mistakes. For children who have unfortunately experienced some of her subject material for real, they can be very helpful.

IMO though, they should not be read without an appropriate adult being prepared to talk about them with the reader. There was a thread not so long ago from a poster who was horrified that a JW novel appeared to lay blame at the feet of a teenage girl for having an illicit relationship with her teacher. Extremely useful talking point for abuse, appropriate relationships, personal responsibility, etc., but taken at face value by a naive or already-damaged child, could be very damaging.

Sorry to go off tangent and post twice, but I also think it's worth bearing in mind that age-ranges on books have more to do with reading ability than they do appropriate subject matter.

I loved JW when I was younger, but was much more 11-14ish.

And yet she unfortunately writes about what happens to some children of these ages.

My dd is 11 y.o. and has fortunately grown beyond these books - that said I closely monitored which of JW books she did actually read

Most of them aren't aimed at 7 year old's, to be fair.

Actually dahlen the age range on books is linked to content and not reading ability and this is often where the problem lies. The content of Best Friends is targeted at 9-12 year olds and I suspect many of them have heard stronger language than 'sex maniac' although it always seems worse seeing it in print doesn't it?

Thanks for your thoughts. I think I'll avoid JW for a while. DD is 7&half so bit young I guess. I wouldn't say she's sheltered so doesn't need these kind of books. And I think its nice to read books which you can 'escape' in rather than gritty everyday subject matter.

this is why I read all her books before giving them, or not to dd.