Definitions

[Kathryn]

Can someone give me a definition or a guideline for classificatins of children's books and young adult books. Is there a catagory inbetween? I am trying to set up my bookshelf a bit more specifically and sometimes wonder when to consider a book a children's book or young adult.

Along the same line are the Caldecott and Newberry books for children's books, young adult or both?


Thanks for any clarification anyone can give...

[Lisa]

Well, and you can shelve however you want.

I have shelves for

picture-books (usually but not always for young children)
children (usually ages birth through 12)
young-adult (usually ages 11-17)
and novels for children's, young adult, and adult books. Ditto non-fiction and my other custom shelves.

and there's always some overlap. Some books might end up on 2 or 3 of those shelves. ETA: and many of my custom shelves.

Some members have specific age range shelves. And I've seen all sorts of shelves that include Abigail's breakdown above.

[Kathryn]

Abigail wrote: "Those are good questions, Kathryn! (I hope it's OK, I moved your thread from the 'Odds & End' folder, since it is book-related). I've always seen the demarcation between children's and young adult ..."

This is SO helpful. I'm an organizer my nature and the longer I'm here, the more I shuffle and change things around. Thanks so much!

[Kathryn]

Lisa wrote: "Well, and you can shelve however you want.

I have shelves for

picture-books (usually but not always for young children)
children (usually ages birth through 12)
young-adult (usually ages 11-17) ..."

So true, Lisa. Like I tell the ladies at the quilt store, it's your quilt and you can add any fabrics you like. It's the same with book shelves as well, but sometimes I just don't know where to put the darn thing, so I am doing some fall housekeeping and everyone's input helps alot.

[Brenda]

Thanks for definitions, I too find it a little confusing but that simplified it for me.

[Cheryl, Host of Miscellaneous and Newbery Clubs]

And of course there are picture-books for older children, and Newbery books are for mostly middle-grade but some are YA and some are as 'easy' as leveled readers. And now graphic novels make it a whole mess for ppl who feel a need to categorize conclusively....