The Magic School Bus series books often upset my mind whenever I wanted to borrow them from the library. Let me explain.....
These are wonderful non-fiction books that explore various subjects in the form of a story i.e. fiction. When I discovered these books in the bookshop, I was so excited --- I wanted my girls to read them! I know the chances of them reading these 'stories' to pick up facts will be much higher for them to read our brand new but dust-covered World Book Encyclopedia at home.
Just as Junie B Jones, Narnia and Roald Dahl are shelved as a series in our home, I expect the Magic School Bus to be shelved together in the library as well. To my dismay, being non-fiction, they are shelved by DDC. In addition to DDC, there are also shelved according to author within the particular classification!
Another set of books that I find wonderful is the magic tree house series. The format and language used are suitable for readers to build confidence in reading yet the content is varied and informative. I think they are more wonderful than most basic readers used in schools.
The shelving of the magic tree house is however under both fiction and non-fiction. The magic tree house series is under fiction - shelved by author. The magic tree house research guide is under non-fiction, shelved by DDC.
I just could not explain why the very logical way of library shelving seems to upsets my logical mind! I simply expects to find all books under the umbrella of "The Magic School Bus" to be together; the magic tree house books, whether reseach guides or not to be together!
Unlike the good old days, series books are often by one author and one particular genre. Now, series titles comes in variations e.g. Animal Ark Classics, Animal Ark Babies, Animal Ark Holidays...within the same series title, every book could be written by different authors!
Guess nothing can be as simple as it used to be. The world is now changing, dynamic and global. We need to find our own 'logic' in this chaotic world to satisfy our own mind.
