I also used to happily read books by Enid Blyton or Roal Dahl when I was far too old for them – but I seem to remember it was usually before bed when no one was around to see me!

At my school we were given lists of books that we should be aiming to read that year, and which were always designed to stretch us. I remember that it really pushed me to read Redwall .However, I suspect it also put some people off – especially books like the Wizard of Earthsea, which I finally read when I was in my late teens and actually thought was pretty heavy going for a kid’s book!

But you’re right that it’s potentially very unhelpful for children who are struggling to read.

If they really *have* to do this, why can’t they use a similar approach to that used by the film industry. After all there’s no stigma in going to see a PG film. So instead of using age labels you could use keywords, icons or other devices to give a flavour of the type of book, complexity of language or plot used and the nature of the subject matter. Readers and parents could then use their own judgment – as they do with films – about whether it would be a suitable product for them.