i’d like to know this as well but i doubt there can be a definite answer. sometimes you can tell an obvious difference between ‘for children’ and ‘suitable for children’ but it’s not always clear.
personally i’d say e.g. paw patrol, my little pony, harry potter are for children and e.g. the witches, watership down, lord of the rings are suitable for children. but there must be a big grey area rather than a clear divide
Even if we can accurately identify something as being for children, that something would likely have been produced by very passionate adults, and approved by other adults for publication. Do these adults get a pass from being shamed for their interest in children’s content?
You don’t think any of the adults that create said books are fans of their own and each others works? Surely they aren’t all working in an industry in which they loathe all of the work they are doing or think it is all so beneath them.
I’m mostly responding to the idea that it is shameful to enjoy reading books that are far beneath the level one should be able to read at. Would the same apply to the adults that write children’s books?
no, of course not as long as it’s a genuine effort and not a cynical cash grab (there has been something of a backlash against celebrities knocking out children’s books). so it’s not the producers but the fans of it that come in for criticism. one complicating factor is that in older media children were not taken for idiots. the examples i used as suitable for children (except maybe lord of the rings when perhaps i should have said the hobbit? i’m not familiar) were written specifically for children but who could honestly look down on an adult for enjoying them. whereas if you’re hurtling into middle age and still really into dora the explorer or similar that’s obviously weird. but e.g. twilight? i still think you should have grown out of that but it’s in the grey area
How does one accurately identify something as being specifically for children and children only?
i’d like to know this as well but i doubt there can be a definite answer. sometimes you can tell an obvious difference between ‘for children’ and ‘suitable for children’ but it’s not always clear.
personally i’d say e.g. paw patrol, my little pony, harry potter are for children and e.g. the witches, watership down, lord of the rings are suitable for children. but there must be a big grey area rather than a clear divide
Even if we can accurately identify something as being for children, that something would likely have been produced by very passionate adults, and approved by other adults for publication. Do these adults get a pass from being shamed for their interest in children’s content?
Lol what? They are publishing and marketing said books to children
How is that the same as adults unironically enjoying children’s literature?
You don’t think any of the adults that create said books are fans of their own and each others works? Surely they aren’t all working in an industry in which they loathe all of the work they are doing or think it is all so beneath them.
I’m mostly responding to the idea that it is shameful to enjoy reading books that are far beneath the level one should be able to read at. Would the same apply to the adults that write children’s books?
I don’t think most adult publishers of children’s books are fans of children’s books, no.
no, of course not as long as it’s a genuine effort and not a cynical cash grab (there has been something of a backlash against celebrities knocking out children’s books). so it’s not the producers but the fans of it that come in for criticism. one complicating factor is that in older media children were not taken for idiots. the examples i used as suitable for children (except maybe lord of the rings when perhaps i should have said the hobbit? i’m not familiar) were written specifically for children but who could honestly look down on an adult for enjoying them. whereas if you’re hurtling into middle age and still really into dora the explorer or similar that’s obviously weird. but e.g. twilight? i still think you should have grown out of that but it’s in the grey area