"Age appropriate books" - what does this mean anyway?

There are times in my life when my two worlds (that of being a mom at home and that of being a PhD student at MSU) collide and crash.

There are other times when they beautifully complement each other.

Teaching a children's literature class to MSU sophomores/juniors has allowed the complementing to happen much more often. I'm so very grateful for that.

Last night, I talked with my students about the term "age appropriate" and how absolutely complicated it is. I've been thinking about this topic lately because I've started reading chapter books to Claire. We just finished Charlotte's Web and are now reading Little House in the Big Woods. Both of these books are not "recommended" for 4 year old children.

In my class, I share with my students a Washington Post article that reported about how some parents in a 3rd grade classroom complained when the teacher read aloud to her students from a book containing graphic descriptions of violence against enslaved Africans. The article went on to compare different age recommendations for the book: ALA says its for grades 5-10; Publisher's Weekly says it's for ages 8 and up. Kirkus Review recommends ages 10-12.

In short, this topic is complicated. And yet, like so many other things in life, it seems that many people (educators included) merely accept these recommendations without critical thought. In doing so, they don't expose assumptions about childhood, child development, and literature.