To please check children's books!!

[MrsTermites]

It seems The Boy and the Dog by Seishu Hase is being bought by some older family members for children in the belief it's a lovely story like The Incredible Journey. It is not a children's book - a fifth of it is about a prostitute who gives blow jobs and hand jobs and there is a LOT of other detail. None of this comes up in the blurb, which of course is fine if you know it's an adults book, but it is getting some very shocked young readers I understand.

But why should an ADULT book found in the ADULT section of a bookstore need to detail everything in its blurb? There is an assumption that an adult can deal with mature themes.

Honestly, this is just ridiculous.

@Puzzledandpissedoff the picture I shared above is from the Waterstones website. It clearly shows what category it is under.
It would say "children's and young adult" if it was suitable. It doesn't. Quite clearly.

The Waterstones I use has separate adult and children sections... but also has random displays with books on offer, award winners, recommendations etc. So if it was on one of the plinths instead of the shelves....

The OP hasn't mentioned the age of their child

This discussion isn't just about the OP's situation and child(ren)'s age(s) - hence OP specifically seeking to warn all other parents; but it's clearly not going to be bought for a 5yo, is it? Normal thickness chapter books with no/very few illustrations are obviously not going to be confused for little children's books; secondary school and up, quite possibly, though.

So if you were wanting to buy a child a book online, would you not first filter by category for their age range? Child, young adult etc? It's really not difficult.

Or would you do what this relative has clearly done which is to go online and just blindly press buy now because they saw a picture of a dog

@WeBuiltThisBuffetOnSausageRoll I think the OP will be in for a shock when she discovers what books are on secondary school/GCSE reading lists.

Or would you do what this relative has clearly done which is to go online and just blindly press buy now because they saw a picture of a dog
**
And also read the blurb, which makes it sound like The Incredible Journey

Have a quick look on Amazon (where a lot of people buy books!).
No suggestion this is an adult fiction book, or of content that might be inappropriate for this age group.
But please don't let that deter from you from posting snarky comments questioning other people intelligence. 🙄

That's fair enough, Needmorelego, though it only works if buyers search by an age category instead of using keywords like "dog" for example - which they could easily do for a younger reader who's known to love them

I guess it just goes to show that considerable care's needed when buying for this age group

But why should an ADULT book found in the ADULT section of a bookstore need to detail everything in its blurb? There is an assumption that an adult can deal with mature themes.

To be fair, I've been an adult for a long time now, and am fully capable of dealing with all mature themes; but a book that ends up spending so much time going on about blow jobs, when the title and synopsis suggest a much less tacky and porny experience all-round, would leave me feeling very short-changed.

As I said before, I hate how 'adult' has been co-opted to mean 'porn/smut'. The internet is full of porn for those who want it - I can't imagine many people wanting to get their jollies deliberately eschewing all that and instead buying a book that looks like this.

Have you actually read this book?

@Puzzledandpissedoff I just typed in the book title then clicked on the book - which is where it gives more details (ie the category).
If I typed in 'books about dogs' 1000s would come up but surely you would click on the information before pressing 'buy'.
Whatever way you approach the website the all important category listing is there at the top of the screen.

Surely if you were buying a book online for a child you would click on the "children's books" link and not the "adult books". Step 1 of buying books online, surely???

please check children's books
Please check adult books bizarrely gifted to children

Some mysteries are suitable for children. In the States, there’s the cozy mystery genre. The Cat Who series by Lilian Jackson Braun is suitable for 9+. The is not intimacy beyond hugging and kissing, all murders take place offstage with no gory details, and the plots are clear. All the characters are adults with pro social attitudes. The Siamese cats who help solve the mysteries are so charismatic that they make the reader want one.
To Kill a Mockingbird is badly written and a poor choice for everyone.

So if you were wanting to buy a child a book online, would you not first filter by category for their age range? Child, young adult etc? It's really not difficult.

Then you'd be automatically excluding a whole load of classic books that are quality literature for all ages (except little ones), but which have not been marked as 'children's'.

I think the OP will be in for a shock when she discovers what books are on secondary school/GCSE reading lists.

I would hope that educators will be choosing suitable books that deal with much more of the gamut of human emotions - including grown-up and other tricky themes - than just something focusing so heavily on tedious sexual acts; but it's certainly not unknown for predatory adults who get into responsible teaching roles to deliberately introduce inappropriate books of all kinds which whatever intentions they have.

Have you actually read this book?

No, I'm just going on OP's description - but I'm talking about books (and other media sources) in general, not just this one.

Not all writing that involves sex or sexual themes is intended to be erotic, even writing about what a sex worker does for a living. I've read a number of novels with sex scenes/content that was there to make a point or make the reader uncomfortable, and it would be a bit weird to dismiss that sort of writing as 'porny' just because some of the things that happened in it also take place in slash fiction.

I wonder if some of the people who only work in binary - 100% child or 100% adult - are the same ones we see on MN who propose turning your children out of home on their 18th birthday and sending them out to face the world on their own.

Surely people realise that human childhood (and into the teen and young adult years) is a long, gradual process and not just like a caterpillar turning into a butterfly?

Whatever way you approach the website the all important category listing is there at the top of the screen

I know, Needmorelego, but it doesn't alter the point that some will look at a cover, read the blurb and think that's enough without checking the category at all

Which is why I said that considerable care is needed ...

@WeBuiltThisBuffetOnSausageRoll you do know books can be catagorised by age in smaller breakdowns than "child" and "adult". Obviously if you had an advanced reader or mature child you could progress further along the age range.

I didn't think you had. It's not "porny" or "smutty" or "tacky" but don't let that get in the way of your frothing.

@Puzzledandpissedoff well yes...if someone is buying a gift for a child they should be taking more care. But as the many many threads this time of year show many people don't and just buy any old thing without thinking.

I didn't think you had. It's not "porny" or "smutty" or "tacky" but don't let that get in the way of your frothing.

I don't think you've read it - "condom sheathed penis sticking straight up" "getting fucked was the basic transaction" "his penis was already stiff"
Plenty more too!

Nope, Amazon reviews and suggested follow ups don’t give that impression

Not all writing that involves sex or sexual themes is intended to be erotic, even writing about what a sex worker does for a living. I've read a number of novels with sex scenes/content that was there to make a point or make the reader uncomfortable, and it would be a bit weird to dismiss that sort of writing as 'porny' just because some of the things that happened in it also take place in slash fiction.

Fair point - but it seems quite odd for such a large proportion of a book (going on OP's description of this one here) not to feature in the description of what it deals with at length.

I'd say that for any book that goes off on an extended tangent of any kind that isn't clearly indicated by the title or description of the book. Suppose a book was ostensibly about, say, an impoverished childhood in Yorkshire, and it mentioned a wealthy aunt who'd been able to afford a luxurious holiday in Egypt - and then it spent four chapters all about the history of the pyramids, Tutankhamen, Howard Carter, the Nile, tourism etc. - although obviously not porny in any way, I would feel that the book was not really what I'd been 'sold' at all.