Would you let a 9yo read all of the Harry Potter books?

[amsunshine]

Honestly, I think it depends on the 9 yr old.

[qtkimi]

Yes if he wants to read them I would let him my oldest ds read the all when hebwas in 3rd and 4th grade. I remember his teacher wouldn't let him check one of them out because she said the reading level was too high so I bought it he read it and aced the ar test. Has he seen any of the movies? If so I think he woukd definatly be fine

[Chris in VA]

My older boys started around 8 and 10, IIRC, but had to wait til the others were published (I may be off some years but pretty close).

Dd read the first four, then this year, I let her read the rest (she'll be 13 in a month). I agree with others about missing a lot of the point of the later books until there's more life experience or at least more emotional experience. I know she'll revisit them (already has) and she definitely will pick up more each time. I just wanted the initial introduction to be a little on the later side. She was old enough that her peers had read them, but also old enough that she could tell them to stop giving away the plot--and they listened to her.

 

ITA with Mrs. Mungo that there are a ton of books that 9yos can "get." What I've found is that kids who skip ahead to read more "mature" books sometimes miss the window of reading the books for the younger set, and that's sad. For example, some miss terrific, even culturally important picture books as 5s because they are reading on a 4th grade level. Same happens as they age. I've met lots of homeschooling moms who have rediscovered the rich children's literature as adults--books they missed because they were busy reading way above grade level.

 

So I think it's a bit of a balance.

 

Those are the "rules" that I keep in mind, along with prereading myself the more "controversial" books and knowing my kid, when trying to decide what to allow (or what to suggest, even).

[*Lulu*]

I would allow it, but I tend to be very selective in when and how I restrict my children's reading. In our family even the 5 year old has heard books 1-4, and 9 was the magic age where we set DS free in the library only steering him away from things with sexu@lly explicit content or gratuitous gore.

 

When I start to freak out I remind myself that around age 9 I read Watership Down, LOTR, Swiss Family Robinson, and 4 or 5 Anne McCaffery books before my parents realized I had moved beyond the Dragonsong Trilogy. I survived. I'm an almost well adjusted adult and the themes that were lost on me as a 9 year old were caught as I re-read the works at later times. While most popish literature I read once and never revisit, well written works with powerful themes draw me back again and again. Actually I've re-read almost every book from that list at least a half dozen times. (LOtR being the exception, I bet I have read it close to 20 times since that first reading.

 

Do what is right for your family, for your child. Trying to apply other people's standards to your child rearing is a surefire way to end up chasing your own tail; in the end it will accomplish little more than wearing you out and making you dizzy.

[Forget-Me-Not]

Our whole family has listened to the series repeatedly on audiobook. My kids are 9 (almost 10), 7(almost 8) and 4.5--not counting my 2 month old :). My 9yo has seen all 8 movies as well. I've been hesitant about some of it because *I* was a sensitive kid, but DH and DS are cut from different cloth :)

[KathyBC]

This is *exactly* where I'm at with 10yo dd. I think I will lock books 5-7 away for now.

[courtney.byrum]

This is where we're at too - DD7 just finished book 4 tonight. DS8 just finished book 1 - can't let little sis get too far ahead :)

 

I guess maybe I'll reread book 5 since it's been so long since I read it but I didn't plan to stop her from moving on if she wishes and don't think that will change, she has a very good grasp on reality and knows if it's in a fiction book it's just a story.

[Dahliarw]

It depends on the child. My ds is 8 and reading the last book. He is fine with it. I wasn't sure when he started the series, but his much more sensitive 9yo cousin read them all and was fine, so we figured ds would be too. I know a lot goes over his head, adn I'm ok with that. I figure he'll reread them in a few years and get it more. The HP books are the only books that got my ds interested in reading! Now the movies, those will wait. He's only seen the first, and that's the only one he'll see for a while.

[phathui5]

Yes. I have and I would again.

[DaffodilDreams]

Yes. My 9 yr old read all of the books at age 7 and has seen all of the movies. She loved her HP phase and doesn't appear to be scarred for life.

[Shawna in Texas]

 

Isn't book 5 the one where Harry is angry the ENTIRE book? I can hardly reread it now and it was hard to get through the first time! I believe the lake of dead bodies was book 6.

 

The first read through book 5 was excruciating. Angry Harry, no editor. After the series completed and I read through them again with my oldest, book 5 actually became one of my favorites. Harry should have been angrier. The Black family history was fascinating to me.

 

If a child has read through books 1-4 and is begging for the rest, I'd absolutely let him or her. I made a mistake with my oldest. I wanted her to hold out on the series so that we could discuss some of the deeper themes and I thought that maybe if she were older she would appreciate them the way I do. Problem was, in this Internet age and family and peers, she heard far too many spoilers. It didn't hold the magic for her the way I think it would have if she were a bit younger. I could share with her my impressions and things that I thought were cool about it because I remember reading them unspoiled. I've got to figure out how to keep my youngest as unspoiled as possible.

[linders]

As it is, my 4 year old is terrified of Tinkerbell, but thinks Snape is cool.

 

This made me laugh! It reminded me of DS12 years ago - no problem with dementors, Snape, and Darth Vader, but overwrought when he finally discovered that the first scene in Finding Nemo (which we had always skipped) was the barracuda attacking the fishy nest.