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When do we read Harry Potter?


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I've never read Harry Potter.  (I was a junior in college when it came out.  I was busy reading Foucault.)  The consensus seems to be that it is a must read.  So if I was going to do it as a family read aloud at what age would I start?  Is it a family read aloud?  What have you done, what do you think?

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My 10 and 12 yo dds have just read the series on their own, not as a read-aloud. Dd10 loved it, zoomed through them all and has started over at the beginning. Dd12, lover of Anne of Green Gables and despiser of Percy Jackson, quit midway through Harry Potter no. 5, saying it just wasn't her cup of tea. I think they're broadly in the right age range, but sensitivity levels vary. I was not surprised that my dd12 chose not to continue.

 

If you're not familiar with the books and have kids who tend to be anxious or sensitive, you might want to preread the last few books. That said, I do think my older dd (who is unlikely to choose to watch the movies any time soon) is glad to finally understand her friends' references.

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How old are your kids? The fourth book is the first time someone dies and the intensity increases from there. Depending on your kids' ages and general temperament/sensitivity I'd read books 1-3 (as a read aloud) starting when my kids were 5/6. But, for some of my kids, I'd hold off with the rest until they were a little older (so, anywhere from 8-?, depending on the kid).

 

My olders (currently 13, 11, 10) read the books by themselves between 9-10 each and were fine.

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Read it yourself and decide for yourself. It is a fabulous family read aloud. I started reading them aloud when my kids were 9 & 7 and the 7 year old hated Harry! She was too young, didn't like fantasy, and hates violence. She had to be much older to enjoy them, but loved the books by the time she was 11 or 12. 

 

My kids say I almost ruined them by starting them too young. Ds read through the first three himself when he was 10, then we had a long Harry Potter pause. I read them all. Eventually, my kids were willing to restart. I read them all aloud. Ds read them all himself. 

 

My advice, try to give it some time and make sure they will really enjoy them. They are amazing, must reads, destined to be classics. You can spoil them by starting too young. You can't spoil them by waiting too long. Wait for them to want them. Wait for them to be ready. Pause between books. Harry grows up in the series, let your kids grow up with him.

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My kids say I almost ruined them by starting them too young.

 

My advice, try to give it some time and make sure they will really enjoy them. They are amazing, must reads, destined to be classics. You can spoil them by starting too young. You can't spoil them by waiting too long. Wait for them to want them. Wait for them to be ready. Pause between books. Harry grows up in the series, let your kids grow up with him.

I could not agree more!!!

 

Mine oldest were each about 14yo when they started reading HP. They could read every book, straight through the series, followed by the films. We had a great time watching and discussing together! (I had read the series long before, but had not seen any of the films.) it was well worth the wait, and the deeper themes were well understood by my older kids.

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I've talked to many young adults about this, and,  for the most part, reading Philosopher's Stone at age 11 has been the recommendation.  Harry is 11 in the first book.   The first crop of readers aged as they waited for each new publication. Not so now.  The story gets darker and sadder. Once a child who loves HP finds them, you can't stop them from devouring them.  I'm thinking it's sometimes better to wait a little, depending on your child. Some can handle the themes at younger ages, but there is a lot of pain, heartache, and growth to process as one makes their way through the books.  I've certainly known younger children who have enjoyed HP immensely, however. 

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My older DDs read the first couple of books around age 10, but didn't finish the series. Neither are fans of fantasy. DD3 read the whole series at age 8. She has since re-read all the books and watched the movies. She is a die-hard HP lover. I think age and whether to do them as independent reads or read-alouds varies by family.

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Our oldest two kids grew up with Harry Potter (we read book 1 aloud). We used to dress up for the midnight release parties at Borders :)

 

Youngest began reading the books when she was in first grade. We had her hold off on book 4 until she could handle the sadness/scariness, so she was probably closer to 9.

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We started them when dd was 8, I read the first one aloud because I didn't think she was capable of reading it on her own yet....she had gone through Vision Therapy and was juuuuuust starting to be comfortable with books like Magic Tree House. Anyway, I'd read half of a chapter per night, and about 1/2 way through the book, I caught her staying up with her book light and finishing the chapter in bed. 😠She went on to read up to book 5, and then it got too intense for her. She only watched the first 3 movies (after she finished the books, we'd watch the movie) but asked not to watch any more. She's definitely my most sensitive kid, so I'm not surprised it was too scary/intense for her.

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I waited until they asked. My oldest is 8 and a very strong reader and mature. We just started Book 1 and he begs for more. My almost 5 year old could not care less. That's not true, she hates it and actually plays dead/asleep when we pull it out. I imagine we will read it again when she is older and she will appreciate it more then. I think this one is a case of better late than early.

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We did them as read alouds at 12 but I wouldn't have a problem at 11. We wanted to read the Narnia series, a The Hobbitt and LOTR before Harry Potter which is why it took until 12. I personally thought 12 was perfect. They were old enough to be engaged and not scared but still young enough to really get into the magic.

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We read them when my ds was in first grade which means that my younger two were younger than that. We read the whole series as a read aloud one right after another. Ds (4th grade now) has since read it on his own multiple times and my younger two have been after me to re-read the series as a read aloud, though we've been busy with other books so I haven't gotten around to it. The entire family has seen movies 1-3 and the deal on 4-8 is that they have to read the book first so only ds has seen 4-8. It's a thing complete with staying up late and movie snacks.

 

I guess it depends on your family and the kind of reader your child is. We're voracious re-readers around here. The idea that a book could be ruined by reading too early or as a read aloud instead of on their own would be a foreign concept for us. The books and characters are very much a part of our daily lives. We still talk about the characters. Yesterday it was comparing Alvin the Treacherous (How to Train Your Dragon) with Malfoy and Voldemort - which one was Harry's nemesis and what did nemesis mean?

 

But again, YMMV. I don't think there's one right age - know your reader.

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The first one can be at any age and even the second and third. But after that, it starts to get dicey. The characters grow up and it becomes a somewhat dark story at times. Harry's step-family is abusive to him. One of the teachers tortures Harry (Ms. Whats-her-name who makes him write sentences as punishment) and one of the student's parents are tortured into insanity. An innocent man is wrongfully imprisoned for 12 years (12 years! Not a couple of days, but for 12 years!) in a terrible prison where all the joy is sucked out of him (literally--it's by magic). He goes partly insane for a while, too. Children and adults that are loved characters are killed in front of each other. It's not written in a graphic way, but torture and death and wrong accusations are certainly not bunnies and unicorns. Oh wait. In the first book, a bad guy kills unicorns and drinks their blood as they die.

 

Also, consider: will you want to watch each movie when you're done with each book? They're PG13 and rightly so. If you're hoping to read the book and watch the movie, you'll be stuck at movie #1 if your kids can't handle PG13.

 

It depends on the kid. I have a 12 year old who has read them all and seen all the movies. But my 9 year old has not, and I'm going to wait on it for him. I don't think I want him reading/seeing such darkness just yet. The stories are wonderful, but probably because the evil is *so* evil and so the stakes are *so* high, which makes for excellent reading.

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If your kids are used to older non-Disney fairy tales, myths, and such they may do fine with them.

 

My six and four year old have seen all the movies and love them. They shed a tear over the death of certain characters and jumped in fright when Voldemort appeared. So did my teenagers...lol. Those are normal reactions to any good story. I read them all because of all the "sooo dark" reviews and never saw anything I wouldn't read aloud to my six year old. They're no darker or riskier than the Dr. Who episodes she loves. *shrug*

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We were going to wait until DD was 11 to start her on the series, but her best buddies had a Harry Potter themed birthday party the year they all turned 9. So, we read the first book aloud before the party. After that, she was totally hooked. Over the next 2 years, we read all the books aloud as a family. She's listened to them multiple times on audio since then.

 

During the time that I was worrying over reading them too soon, another homeschool mom asked me, "Do you really believe she'll never read them again?" That helped me relax about the decision to go ahead and read them. I knew she'd be reading them again. I've always been a re-reader, too, and I'm always amazed by what I notice, even after several times through the same book.

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During the time that I was worrying over reading them too soon, another homeschool mom asked me, "Do you really believe she'll never read them again?" That helped me relax about the decision to go ahead and read them. I knew she'd be reading them again. I've always been a re-reader, too, and I'm always amazed by what I notice, even after several times through the same book.

 

I was raised by a mom who taught me you never, ever re-read a book. I was an adult before I broke the rule. Now I re-read all the time. However, my kids rarely re-read anything. There have been a few books through the years they have re-read, but I certainly don't count on it and dd - never unless forced. 

 

Re-reading seems to be a personality thing. You either can or can't. I love to revisit old friends and find so much I've missed. My mom, my dd, they say once you know the ending why bother and they hate to re-read.

 

Know your kids style on this before you assume you aren't wasting your only shot at a book if you read it too early. 

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I reread my favorite books all the time. As far as I know, my kids are rereaders, too. :-) I've reread read alouds before and no one has complained. It's like revisiting old friends or even relatives. Because I change in between readings, I find something new to enjoy upon a second (or third or tenth) time through a book. :-)

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I think these are books are a great example of knowing your own kid and what they are capable of enjoying and taking in.  Yes, there are evil and scary things that happen to Harry and his friends.  One of the major themes of the book is how our choices make us who we are.  So please pre-read the books for young children to decide if YOUR child is ready for these, and read with older children so you can discuss some really great books.

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The series is not a "must read" unless you find it interesting. We tried the first book when it came out, thought it poorly written, shrugged our shoulders and moved on because there are so many books in the world among which to choose. The decision is completely for you and your children.

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Or read the first book and only continue if you all enjoy it.

 

The problem with that strategy is that the first book is the least appealing, and the second not that much better.

 

The one good thing to come out of one particular relationship was that my boyfriend convinced me to read the third book when I'd given up on the series after the second.

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The problem with that strategy is that the first book is the least appealing, and the second not that much better.

 

The one good thing to come out of one particular relationship was that my boyfriend convinced me to read the third book when I'd given up on the series after the second.

I have to agree. I was appalled that they were considered good after finishing the first one. I read them for the first time two years ago as my then-7yo was reading them. He read them all and watched each movie after reading each book that year. His brother, who is four years younger, watched the movies with him. He closed his eyes during parts he didn't want to see, but he *has* to do whatever his brother does. My 9yo has read and reread the books MANY times in the past two years and I expect many more rereadings. He learns something new each time.
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I agree that the first book definitely isn't the strongest of the series. But it is the simplest, so if a child finds it difficult to follow, she/he isn't ready for the subsequent books.

Slightly off-topic, but I have just read the Eragon series (cause, you know, it's our responsibility as parents to pre-read things before letting the kids loose on them ;) ) and I found that also got better as it went on, almost as if the author had been warming up and only really found his stride by the third volume.

 

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It has a lot of stuff in it that a child won't understand if he hasn't been exposed to much involving England (and a few other things).  My youngest got the first book for her 5th birthday, and started reading it, but lost interest pretty quick because it only half made sense to her.  Maybe if we watched more TV / movies she would have understood it without a lot of explanation.

 

She picked it up again at age 7 and read right through to the middle of book 5 before slowing down again.

 

My slower reader also started at age 7 and has been plodding through; I hear she's near the end of Book 2.

 

So I'm going to say 7 is a good age to start.

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The problem with that strategy is that the first book is the least appealing, and the second not that much better.

 

The one good thing to come out of one particular relationship was that my boyfriend convinced me to read the third book when I'd given up on the series after the second.

 

I thoroughly enjoyed all 7 of the books.  :)

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My oldest read it this summer at 7.5. She did good in the first half of the book but then got bored. She had no interest in continuing to read any more in the series. I have been debating doing it as a read aloud because their "church" (UU) is doing a several week long Harry Potter unit. They are making it like the kids are going to wizardry school. It sounds fun. I think ds might like it and he does reread stuff. That is interesting about the series getting better in later books. I never been into it myself but I don't like a lot of pop culture stuff like Star Wars, or Lord of the Rings and I was older when they came out. I am fine if my kids do not like it so I am not concerned about what age to introduce it or if they read it too young they will be turned off by it. 

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I thought the first one was a bit fun in a "kid's book" kind of way, but (when I had read only that one) I was pretty surprised that so many people regarded the series as having true literary merit. I only continued because my kids begged me to, and I was ever so glad that I did! 

 

I am definitely in the camp that the later books are far better. I am also in the camp of 'falling to the floor in a sobbing heap' for the later books, and my kids could not have handled them at 5 or 6, the movies even less so. 

 

You do have to be a pretty strong, interested reader to get through the later books, so one could certainly do the first one or two as read alouds and then wait on the others (b/c most kids who are not ready for them will not plow through them). 

 

 

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Oh, I wanted to address the comparison to old fashioned fairy tales. My kids could and did handle most fairy tales just fine, even the 'grimmer' ones (heh). The key difference, I think, is that they weren't deeply involved with the characters. Most fairy tales are fairly short and the characters tend to be prototypes. In Harry Potter, the characters are more fully developed and you spend a lot of time with them over the course of the books. 

 

You become attached, and you want to keep reading about them forever, and then there's the Battle of Hogwarts and . . .  :crying: 

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The series is not a "must read" unless you find it interesting. We tried the first book when it came out, thought it poorly written, shrugged our shoulders and moved on because there are so many books in the world among which to choose. The decision is completely for you and your children.

 

I would just say, though, that so much of the beauty of these books is lost in the movies.  The movies are good, but the beautiful truths really come out in the books, to be mostly lost in the movies.

 

FWIW, my kids were about Harry's age as the books came out (or pretty close).  I thought it was the perfect age for them to read them. (Besides being so exciting whenever a new book came out!)

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My son read them much younger than is suggested here, and has read and reread and re-reread them.  I have no idea how many times he has read the series now.  He is growing with them and gets more out of them each time he goes back through the series.  I have  no regrets about having let him start them young.  He had not been exposed to many of the references before he read the books the first time, which has made it like discovering an old friend when he's made a new connection.  It also got him interested in Latin (for the spells). 

 

My daughter is currently reading the third book.  I'm not sure that she will continue past that at this point - she's a different kid and may need more time to grow into them. 

 

I think when they're ready, they're ready, and you can't put an arbitrary age on it.

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