mamapjama Posted July 2, 2011 Share Posted July 2, 2011 I know when I read the books (I think I've only read four) I felt there was a real shift where the books went from being written for children to being written for a more young adult - adult audience. I have read the first two with my dc - 9 and 5. They really loved them. They want the third. Did you feel the third was still set for younger children? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
joannqn Posted July 2, 2011 Share Posted July 2, 2011 It was Order of the Phoenix. It's quite political which made it so much more interesting for adults. We listened to them on audio tape a couple of years ago, and the kids enjoyed all of the books. They understand and enjoy the basic plot more than the underlying themes but that's fine. They can reread when they are older to get the themes. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mommy2BeautifulGirls Posted July 2, 2011 Share Posted July 2, 2011 ***SPOILER ALERT*** The third one starts to get a bit darker, because they think Sirius is after Harry. It all depends in your 5yo. Your 9yo would probably be fine. And in book 4, remember Lord Voldemort returns. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mrs Mungo Posted July 2, 2011 Share Posted July 2, 2011 (edited) ***SPOILER ALERT*** The third one starts to get a bit darker, because they think Sirius is after Harry. It all depends in your 5yo. Your 9yo would probably be fine. And in book 4, remember Lord Voldemort returns. Cedric Diggory is killed in book 4, to me that takes it to an older level. eta: We had listened to them all of them on CD by the time my youngest was 7. Edited July 2, 2011 by Mrs Mungo Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ereks mom Posted July 2, 2011 Share Posted July 2, 2011 I think books 1-3 are okay for younger kids, but 4-7 are definitely not. YMMV. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Desert Rat Posted July 2, 2011 Share Posted July 2, 2011 I think the 3rd is still okay for littles. However, we've read them all aloud, years ago. My kids did fine. We just may have a different tolerance level for things than your family though. I would recommend you read #4 yourself and see what you think. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
twoforjoy Posted July 2, 2011 Share Posted July 2, 2011 My 7yo read the first two really quickly and loved them, enjoyed the third but kind of slogged through the end, and then lost interest about halfway through the fourth. I think at that point it was just dealing with themes too mature to interest him. It's kind of hard, I think, for a 7yo to stay interested in what a 15-year-old kid is doing. He's been asking me to read the first one to him at night, though. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mommy2BeautifulGirls Posted July 2, 2011 Share Posted July 2, 2011 Cedric Diggory is killed in book 4, to me that takes it to an older level. eta: We had listened to them all of them on CD by the time my youngest was 7. Oh, yeah... And Cedric dies. :D Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CrossFitMama Posted July 2, 2011 Share Posted July 2, 2011 I would almost have them read them once a year so they are the same age the characters are...as you would have read them as child as they were coming out new... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rosy Posted July 2, 2011 Share Posted July 2, 2011 ***SPOILER*** RE: the books (I haven't seen all of the movies): In the first chapter of book 4, Voldemort kills an innocent man whose house he is using as a hideout. Up until that point, things had been fairly light. I told my DD10 (after reading the book in its entirety) that if this chapter was too much for her, she should stop the series until she's older. She was ok with it and hasn't been bothered by anything else she's read. I think that chapter is a good litmus test--if you feel that your kids can handle that level of involvement with Voldemort and the things he does, they're probably fine with the rest of the series. Book 7 is like that all the way through, and it would be hard to get through book 6 and not read book 7. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cinder Posted July 2, 2011 Share Posted July 2, 2011 Cedric Diggory is killed in book 4, to me that takes it to an older level. Our library has books 1-3 in the children's section; books 4-7 are YA. Agree it depends on your child. My oldest would not have done well with it as a younger child as his imagination goes on and on and he dwells on the scary parts. My younger is totally not like that and had listened to and read all the books before he was 12. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pegasus Posted July 2, 2011 Share Posted July 2, 2011 DD put off reading book 7 for almost two years after it came out. She loves the rest of the series, although she thought books 5 and 6 were a bit harder to get through. When I finally asked her why she wasn't reading book 7, she said that no one else would die until she read it. She did finally read it recently, at age 14. Pegasus Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ocelotmom Posted July 2, 2011 Share Posted July 2, 2011 My kids have seen movies 1-3, but not 4. I'm pretty sure my 8 year old would be ok with all of them now, but there's no reasonable way for him to watch them without the 4 year old around, and he hasn't asked to see them. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mommy2BeautifulGirls Posted July 2, 2011 Share Posted July 2, 2011 DD put off reading book 7 for almost two years after it came out. She loves the rest of the series, although she thought books 5 and 6 were a bit harder to get through. When I finally asked her why she wasn't reading book 7, she said that no one else would die until she read it. She did finally read it recently, at age 14. Pegasus That's pretty cute! My girls are 6 and 7, and they have seen the first two movies in their entirety, and parts of the third and fourth movies on TV, with me monitoring for the parts I thought would be over what they could handle. I think they could handle the books, but they have no interest in reading or hearing the books yet. My oldest wants to wait to read them when she is an adult, since that's when I read them. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
katilac Posted July 3, 2011 Share Posted July 3, 2011 Cedric Diggory is killed in book 4, to me that takes it to an older level. This had us all in tears, and I positively sobbed my way through book 7. I think that 1, 2, and 3 go together pretty well, and 4 goes more with 5, 6, 7 - so I'd probably wait on 4 until I was comfortable letting them read all of them. I personally would implode and die if I read #4, and then had to wait a year for #5, and another year for #6 . . . :D Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Coffeemama Posted July 3, 2011 Share Posted July 3, 2011 My dd read books 1-3 in a row when she was 8. The next summer at 9, she read 4 but interestingly, she would not read it at night...b/c of this I had told her she had to wait another year for book 5. But, my father gave her his copy to read over Christmas break:glare:...Now she is 10 1/2 and I agreed to let her read book 6 and I'll let her go right on to 7 when she's finished b/c that would just be torture. Meanwhile, I started to read aloud book 1 to my ds8 and dd6. My son had never read anything on his own past a Magic Treehouse level...well he began reading chapters on his own after I said enough for today...I am beyond thrilled, he finished it two nights ago! Guess it took something really suspenseful to push him into full novels. I'll let him get through books 2&3 this summer, but will wait on 4 like I did with my dd. HTH! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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