The first time I realised this was true was when I read it in one of Michael Chabon's essays. We've separated what we call "real" literature from "genre" literature. All this generally means is that good books (for lack of a better example I'm going to say H. G. Well's "The Invisible Man") are considered Literature even though it is obviously a science fiction book. J. R. R. Tolkien's books are considered Literature even though they are obviously fantasy books. "Lolita" is sometimes referred to as an erotic novel, but anyone who doesn't agree Nabokov writes Literature and is possibly the best user the English language has ever had has not read him. No, "genre" is only genre because it's bad, or because it's not good enough. The only genre this doesn't really happen in is in children's books, or in young adult's books.
Children's books have a magical quality: because they are children's books, and children are expected to live in worlds of their own and have active imaginations, they can be either realistic or fantastic and no one will categorise them differently for it. After all, they are children's books. They are possibly the only genre that isn't really a genre (what's the common definition of "children's book"? They go from "Alice in Wonderland" to "A Christmas Carol" to "Oliver Twist" to "Harry Potter" to "Peter Pan" to "The Chronicles of Narnia", and yes, while we may agree that they generally avoid the hugest "adult" topic, sex, many adult books do too, and they deal with most other "adult" topics quite in depth), and because of this children's books have no stigma: there is no "fantasy" children's books versus "science fiction" children's books vs "real" children's books. The wall between genre and Literature disintegrates because children don't divide their books based on the subject matter, children just know good stories from bad. And here is my problem.
For many years, it has been common to go to the children's section (the adult's section too, but this is expected) and find a lot of crap. A lot. Most children wouldn't go for most of the books in the children's section. How do I know this? I've been asking for books to be bought for me since I was about 4, have been buying books for my younger cousins ever since I had an allowance, and now keep occasionally going to bookstores with children. If you leave them to their own devices, children don't like crap. They like good stories. It's the adults who buy the crap, thinking it will be more appropriate, more instructive, better. But children just want to be entertained, they just want a good story. And this is why some of the most famous and successful books are children's books, and why they are actually not just fantastic children's books, but fantastic books point blank: Alice in Wonderland, Peter Pan, Harry Potter.
And yes, I may be biased. I was raised in a house where everyone read a lot, and I was encouraged to read. I've owned books before I could read, and they were read to me, and I learnt to read to read them and I have been obtaining and reading books ever since. Children's sections nurtured my bookcase for a really long time, and if you look at it now, it looks more like a 16 year old's book case (or maybe a 13 year old's one) than a 23 year old's. This is partly because I moved out of my house (where my real bookcase is) when I turned 18, but also partly because most "adult" books I have bought or read are in my parents' bookcases rather than in mine. Mine is a shrine to my childhood and adolescence. And the fact is, most books on it have been reread several times, and I still read them. And I still think they are fantastic.
I guess all I am trying to say here is that children love stories, and generally know how to choose good ones. I am also saying that most of the books considered "children's books" should just be books. They are fantastic. Any of the books I mentioned above is a fantastic read, at any age. Not to mention children's stories: some may say that the Grimm's tales are too grim for a child, but I loved them as a kid and I love them still, and I keep reading them.
We grow up, and we become more serious, and we decide that certain things are "niche" and shouldn't be read by "responsible adults". We decide that science fiction and fantasy are for geeks, and romance is for women, and only Literature should be read without shame. I say this is bullshit. Children have it right. A good story is all that matters.
