Today the No To Age Banding organisation has spoken again. The message read;

The age-banding of children’s books was discussed at an eagerly-awaited and packed session held on 31st August at the Society of Authors’ Conference at Robinson College, Cambridge.

On the No To Age Banding website, authors Philip Pullman and Anne Fine have posted their respective address and report. I agree especially with Philip Pullman’s address and am very pleased that he has stepped up as the organisation’s spokesperson. Even for someone who might not agree, his address is an excellent read. I think he brings up very valid points as to the potholes in the research (hey, if you let actual scientists read the report, you’re asking for it !) and ignorance of the publishing establishment and does so with flair.

See the research report here, and see what The Guardian and Fidra Books – an independent publisher ran by scientists – had to say about it;
Publishers Association’s resources on Age-banding and download the actual report here
The Guardian on Age-banding
Fidra Books on Age-banding

At the moment it’s for an outsider still difficult to read the influence and consequences of these meetings especially because Kate Wilson of Scholastic was the only representative of the publisher’s band that had enough bravado to participate, but I am very confident that the Publishers Association will do exactly as Philip Pullman suggests;

(…) put this age-guidance idea into a dark cupboard, shut the door, and forget it. Leave it to gather dust and fade away. We won’t say any more about it if you don’t. It was a bad idea to start with, and now that you’ve roused all this opposition, it’s an impossible one. It will not work, so walk away and have done with it.