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J.K. Rowling joins campaign against age labels on U.K. kid's lit

04.07.2008 21:06 Arts - Source: cbc.ca

A plan to put age guidance labels on the cover of British children's books received a serious blow this week when Harry Potter author J.K. Rowling joined a growing list of writers, illustrators, publishers, librarians, educators and parents who oppose the move.

Rowling signed the online petition of the No to Age Banding campaign, joining 2,500 others who have already signed including Terry Pratchett, Quentin Blake, Anne Fine, Anthony Horowitz, Jacqueline Wilson and others.

Philip Pullman, best known for the bestselling His Dark Materials trilogy, launched the campaign's website.

The labelling initiative, born out of research commissioned by the U.K.'s Publishers' Association, aims to indicate to adults the suitability of books for young readers, according to the industry group. The age labels are slated to turn up on books beginning this fall.

However, those who have signed the petition opposing the plan call it "ill-conceived" and "damaging to the interests of young readers."

"You simply can't decide who your readership will be. Nor do I want to, because declaring that it's for any group in particular means excluding every other group, and I don't want to exclude anybody," Pullman told The Guardian newspaper.

Those who have signed the petition argue that the move could threaten literacy, in that reluctant readers or those with learning difficulties could feel stigmatized if found reading books labelled for a younger age group.

Also, writers are worried that the age labels could unnecessarily limit their audiences, including deterring readers both younger or older than the label indicates.

Opponents believe that the labels are "likely to encourage over-prescriptive or anxious adults to limit a child's reading in ways that are unnecessary and even damaging," the petition reads. "Everything about a book should seek to welcome readers in and not keep them out."

So far, Walker Books, Bloomsbury and about eight other publishers have said they will not take part in labelling.

Publishers Random House, Scholastic and Egmont support the plan.

Others have said they will leave the decision up to their authors whether to include age labels or not.

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