A question I have asked myself before, should I stop my children reading what they want to read?  I speak in reference to my own two girls.  I have two daughters, aged 11 and 9, both avid readers.  My eldest love history books, historical fiction and graphic novels. While my youngest mostly loves fiction, one with suspense, adventure, mystery and sometimes a bit of gore.  This question was raised when our 9 year old had just turned 7.  As a family we had just finished reading Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone, and we decided to read the next installment of the series.  Miss 7 (at the time), wanted to read ahead in her own time, which we thought was fine.  She devoured that one and we gave her the third book.  It wasn’t until she the fourth book, The Goblet of Fire, where we said no, it might be too scary.  We thought we had explained to her well enough our reasons.  It was a day or so later that we changed our view, when she had smuggled The Goblet of Fire home from the school library.  It was this moment that we realised we were needing amend our home ‘policy’.  Miss (now) 9, enjoys devouring books a day at a time.  If there is an adult themed book we will discuss it with her and, for the most part, she accepts that.  Although, I do tend to pass the books I have read on so they are out of sight out of mind.

Another Miss 9 Story.  I had just finished reading The Lovely Bones, By Alice Sebold.  Once I finished, on a holiday, I added it to the accommodation’s library.  She shed tears of disappointment, telling me “mum I wanted to read that when I turned 18”.

So there is a fair amount of freedom when selecting a book, with my own children.  I believe that kids should have access to any book they are interested in, because I tend to find they will understand what they are able to understand.  Therefore, be affected by what they read in their own way, like we do as adults.

In my library I have created a ‘Senior Fiction’ section for the Year 5/6 students.  This is created for a bit of prestige and a little bit of direction.  While this I am a TL for a K-6 school, I found younger students were picking up books that some parents wouldn’t want their children reading.  While I am Pro Book Choice, I appreciate that not everyone is like me and I am running a primary school library.

Within my school, I have not witnessed any tension between staff and/or students in relations to what they are looking for and the library collection.  The closest I can relate to any tension is a student is looking for a particular book on the shelf.  If we don’t have it we usually purchase as soon as we can, if it’s not in our e-library.

#booksforlife #keepingupwithanineyearold #bookselectiontension