age appropriateness - one post

It would not have been my first choice of all the books in the room, or even my first choice of all the alphabet books in the room. But it's moderately cute and inoffensive, and I'm a very soft touch for someone who toddles over, hands me a book, and sits down in my lap. (Especially when she says "read me p'eas.") The book shows an airplane, with a panel like a window on the airplane, labelled "Aa." Lift the little paper flap to see the apple. Aaah! How exciting! And so on through the alphabet.

*pointing at letters* "D - E - F. dee. What's this?" *pointing at picture of dog*
"Puppy!"
"It does look like a puppy, but I think they meant to draw words that sound like 'd-', like dog..."
"Puppy!!"
"I suppose it is a puppy. Do you want to lift the flap?"
(Under the flap, there is a stylized drawing of a figure with a dress and braids.) "Girl!"
I really don't want to suggest she's wrong about something like that. A drawing like might mean girl as easily as doll, anywhere but the "d" page of an alphabet book. And the concept of an alphabet book seems to be going over her head without parting her hair. I ask about a drawing in the corner of the page, that might be dinosaur or dragon. "What's this?"
"Lizard."

age appropriateness - another post

I was at work, trying to keep up the frantic pace I've been aiming for throughout February. So I didn't exactly notice the girl in the lunchroom, when I first saw her. I saw her, of course, and recognized that she was much younger than anyone I expected to see there. But I wasn't paying attention. Sometimes people bring their kids in for a little while, when the parents are trying to juggle work and child care and commuting and things like taking a kid to the doctor. It's kind of marginally workable for someone who has an office, or even a cubicle, where a child with a reasonably placid nature can sit and read or color for a few hours. Late in the morning, I realized her father is someone I sometimes work with in manufacturing, though I don't know him at all well. It wasn't unreasonable for him to think it was better for a child to be outside the room where he worked with dangerous equipment and toxic materials, even if that meant he couldn't keep an eye on her.

The girl was obviously bored, after spending the morning by herself in the company lunchroom. She wasn't reading when I saw her. Sometimes she was watching tv. When I realized she was there for more than a few hours with nothing to read (I said I wasn't paying attention), I thought of how terrible that would be for most of the people I know. I don't know if growing up made it easier, or just less likely. At the time, I had Robin McKinley's _The Door in the Hedge_ in my backpack. I wanted to give it to her, but I had no idea if it would be appropriate...obviously, if she just didn't like it, or if she was much too young for it, she wouldn't read it, no problem. What made me hesitate was the concern she'd read it and find it disturbing or frightening, or that her parents would consider it inappropriate for a girl her age.

I'd only read about a page of the book that morning, before falling asleep on the bus. I didn't know what level it was written for, or what kind of provocative ideas might be in there. I didn't know what kind of reading the girl was accustomed to, or even how old she was -- I expect a big 8 year old to be more sheltered than a small 12 year old. I knew her father to be a devout member of a conservative church, and not fluent in English. Did that imply anything about what books he might consider provocative or inappropriate for his daughter? Or how he'd feel about one of his colleagues giving such a book to her? I fretted. I didn't know if I could ask him directly, when so many of our conversations fumbled to mime or demonstrations, or asking a third person to translate, after only a few sentences.

In the few minutes of time I could spare from work, I tried to skim _The Door in the Hedge_. In that hurry, I couldn't tell more than that the language was pretty and the stories were mostly traditional. Were all the princesses really just pretty and passive, waiting to be rescued? Surely Robin McKinley would have something edgier in there, apparent to more careful reading? (Maybe just looking at every page, not even very careful reading.) Was I out of my mind, thinking of passive heroines waiting for rescue as safe and non-controversial? In 2006?

While I fretted about it, the moment slipped away. She watched tv (channel surfing) until the middle of the afternoon, and then she and her father left. Some kids are almost always reading or wanting to read...she probably wasn't one of those, or she would have brought a book with her (even if she finished it by midmorning.) Wouldn't she? I don't know.