JK Rowling, the author of the hugely successful Harry Potter series has added her name to fellow fantasy author Philip Pullman’s campaign to check publishers’ plans to establish age guidance limits on books. Pullman, author of the His Dark Materials trilogy is at the vanguard of a group of authors and illustrators who are all angry about the guidelines. The new scheme would see children’s books stamped with age limits, in a similar way guidance ratings are given to movies. JK Rowling is the newest recruit to condemn the planned move, alongside children’s literature giants Quentin Blake, Anne Fine and Dame Jacqueline Wilson.
Pullman explains his choice to boycott the move: “You simply can’t decide who your readership will be. Nor do I want to, because declaring that it’s for any group in particular means excluding every other group.”