Member: littlepiece

CollectionsYour library (936), To read (67), Read but unowned (1), Favorites (21), All collections (936)

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Tagschildren's (495), illustrated (361), adult (346), fiction (270), age:elementary (252), age:ya (175), age:preschool (168), format:ppb (146), nonfiction (130), format:hc (124) — see all tags

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About my libraryMy library is about evenly split between children's books and adult. Just as grown-ups have varying interests and attentions spans, so do children. The "children's" tag applies to a broad spectrum encompassing everything from infant cloth books to things I first read and loved in grade six. Age specifiers have been added for baby, toddler, preschool, and late elementary, with the latter delineated by a wobbly line around grade three. Children's books without an additional age tag are either books great for that early elementary gap in between or books I haven't gotten around to yet. A lot of books labeled "preschool" remain appropriate for this label-less age group.

The basic fuzzy rule for describing something as "late elementary" is the attention span test. In my experience, have younger children been able to enjoy a particular picture book, or has it been too long for them? If it makes seven-year-olds wriggle in boredom, the picture book gets classed as late elementary. Most child- or teen-centered chapter books not dealing with "mature themes" go there by default, though some of them would make for great chapter-by-chapter bedtime reading at younger ages.

Eventually, late elementary morphs into YA (young adult), which in turn runs into adult territory in all sorts of confusing ways. A lot of YA books dealing with teenage protagonists are on thematic par with adult literature, and are only relegated to the adolescent bookshelves by virtue of the lead character's age. More occupy distinct territory between children's literature and adult. Grownup though I am, I love these books.

And then there's the adult section. A hefty portion of these texts were required for school, and have been denoted as such with the (lac) tag. The rest can be just about anything. Biographies, poetry, mythology, murder mysteries, educator resources, child development guides, science fiction and fantasy, abnormal psychology, cookbooks and "literature" all occupy more than a few inches of bookshelf space. I love books. I only wish I had more time to read them.

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Common KnowledgeSeries (164), Awards (327), Characters (2479), Places (583)

Member sinceDec 16, 2006