Asia Children sections in Dutch libraries have bookshelves marked as A, B, and C. Have you ever wondered which one you should look at?
A bird’s-eye view
Dutch libraries use this classification to make books easily accessible for children and their parents. Indeed, if you’re not familiar with children literature, it’s difficult to tell if a book is a good match for your 7-year-old child. To help with that, libraries group together books that are suitable for a certain age. Books categorised as A are “on average” meant for kids in groups 3, 4, 5, books categorised as B — in groups 6, 7, 8, and C are for more experienced readers.
This classification only applies to books that children read themselves, not to picture or informative books.
Details
The table below provides an overview of the A, B, C, and D categories. (It seems that D has been introduced recently, and not all sources I’ve found list it.) At first glance, each category includes few AVI levels:
| Category | Age group | Details |
|---|---|---|
| A | 6 to 9 years | Books usually read in groups 3, 4, 5; AVI M3 up until to AVI E5 |
| B | 9 to 13 years | Books usually read in groups 6, 7, 8; AVI M6 up until to AVI E7 |
| C | Above 13 years | AVI-Plus books |
| D | Above 15 years | In between children’s books and books for adults |
In reality, we cannot say that the categories “just” map to a level of reading difficulty. Certainly, an age indication comes with a certain vocabulary and reading skills, but we may come across an A book that has a difficult structure, or a C book with a simple language but a complicated topic.
The categories are also meant to match the social and emotional development of a child. For example, topics addressed in C books may be not always suitable for children in primary school (drugs? a too scary plot?) or an A book may be too childish for a child over 9 years (“what? a witch who plays with her little brother?”).
Please bear in mind that all categories are based on “average” cases and are only a guideline, even if a very decent one.
