This essay aims to map uses and attributions of the word "appropriate" as they occur in various disciplines related to children's literature. Three competing interest areas--publishing, education, and societal ideologies--provide insight as to how "appropriate" developed into an abstract cover-word for a variety of outside agendas. One usage stems from publishers, authors, and editors who privilege books that adhere to historically established industry standards, such as rhyming text and anthropomorphism. Educators, however, utilize theories of development to establish "developmentally appropriate" pedagogy which, as a result, has the potential to limit the literacy experiences of children. Finally, gatekeepers and moderators--a group which may include parents, caregivers, or special interest groups--use "appropriate" to signal books that correspond to those adult's ideologies and effectively protect children from what they define as disagreeable content. Ultimately, "appropriate" indicates books, ideologies, and materials that correspond to what adults from a variety of different--and often contradictory--fields assume children "need" to develop into proper citizens of their society.