Need input on Harry Potter 5-6-7 for young reader

[Colleen in SEVA]

I admit, I haven't read any of the Harry Potter books. GASP!!!!

 

Blue (who turns 7 at the end of this month) is loving them though, and working his way through the series much faster than I anticipated. I heard that books 1-3 are safe for younger readers, book 4 starts to get a little dark, and books 5-7 are best left for older readers. So that was my plan... until he literally BEGGED to start reading book 4 on Monday, and he's already on page 546.

 

Should I let him continue with books 5-7? Our family is fine with fantasy and magic stories -- so far he has had no trouble keeping the things he reads separate from reality. He hasn't been bothered by anything so far, actually. As he put it: "they are just fictional things the author created with words."

 

What about the movies? My deal with him was that I would let him watch each movie AFTER he read each book. He has already seen 1-3 with no problems, but aren't the later ones much more scary (ok -- DOUBLE GASP -- I haven't seen the movies either). I watched the trailer online for the Half-Blood Prince movie coming out soon and it looks pretty scary, but again these are just fictional characters and optical illusions (his words when I asked if the first movie was scary).

 

What do you think? Should I let him go ahead and read the next 2 books before the movie comes out in November since he seems to be able to separate it from reality? Or is it just too scary for a 6 year old?

 

I was teaching 5th graders when the Harry Potter hysteria started. Some of my students were soooo excited about the new book coming out (#3 I think?), and I remember watching on the news the crazy people who took their kids to Barnes & Noble at midnight so their kid could be the first to read it. I thought they were nuts.... And now that I have a child who is completely excited about reading each new book, I'm sad that he missed out on the hysteria. LOL!!

[Remudamom]

Just from your post it sounds like he's got everything in perspective. I'd hate to slow him down. Mine are older, but they didn't consider them remotely scary.

[H.S. Burrow]

It would truly be best for you to read the books yourself and determine what *your* 7yo is capable of handling.

My DS (10) read all of the books when he was 9 and has seen all of the movies. There is a death in each of books 4 - 7. There were several times *I* cried reading books 6 & 7.

My personally opinion is that books 4 - 7 are too much for the average 7yo...BUT...I don't know your child.;)

It sounds as if he's fine, but I believe that you really should read these so that you can discuss them with him. :) HTH

[Starr]

I agree that you should read them as well. My kids were older and they found the movies quite intense! Other people I know laugh at me so do what works at your house. :)

[Lady_Dulcinea]

I finally let DS 7 start reading the books and figured they'd go slow. But nope, he soaked them up. I just kept tabs on how he felt about the death or scary elements. He was completely fine with it all and didn't stop until the very end.

 

All of my kids have seen all the movies so far. My younger ones saw earlier than I normally would have let them because of the older ones so into them.

 

They are good books and ok movies - books are always better :D

[anissarobert]

Hello,

 

I have to chime in on this one, because we were just discussing it earlier today. My ds will be nine in two weeks. He is also a very good reader. About a year ago he asked to read them, and I said yes, thinking that he would not get very far. Of course, just like the other children on this thread he read them quickly and wanted to keep going.

 

I stopped him after book 3. I have read all 7 books and IMO each book gets darker. (Warning- Spoiler ahead)

 

Book 4 contains a murder of a child. There is no warning. This is just random violence. It is clear that the villian is pure evil and that Harry is trying to fight, but to me this was pretty intense. In the same scene a character cuts of his hand. Books 5-7 contain increasing amounts of violence and death. Like the above post commented. I cried, reading all three of these.

 

The above made book 3 my stopping point, and my ds has not gone ahead and read the others. But he asks all the time. I'm not sure when I will let him finish the series. I did not have this problem with my dd, because she was older when the series was published.

[WTMindy]

Dh and I are split on this one. I think they are ready to read 4-7, and dh wants nothing to do with them. We have both read them and he thinks they are too dark. I think they are fine, but we'll wait until we are both in agreement.

[camibami]

My oldest started reading them at 6, and read all the way to 5 by age 7. (She had to wait to read 6 & 7, since they weren't out yet.) Books 4-5 *were* sort of dark, but no darker than lots of fairy tales, IMO.

 

She has always been very mature, though.She is a child who can/could always articulate her feelings on things very well, and we had/have many discussions that I think most would not find appropriate for young children. For example, I let her watch The Office with me, because it is *so* her kind of humor, and she is mature enough to handle the language/situations responsibly (ie not use bad language herself or something!). I don't pre-read anything of hers any more, because I know she will discuss anything that bothers/confuses her with me.

 

 

Now my youngest- whole 'nother story. Sensitive, a worrier, would love to use curse words or repeat adult situation type things to the neighbor kids. No Office for her! So I guess it really just depends on your child. Read them, and see what you think!

[3lilreds in NC]

You should probably read them - you know your son best and will be able to tell if he can handle them.

 

I would not let my 7yo read them - she thinks *everything* is scary. I'm not ready to let my 8yo go there yet, either, even though she can handle a lot more than I give her credit for.

[dangermom]

I also think you should read them and judge for yourself. I have read them all, and though I would be willing to let my 8yo read the first ones, I would not let her read 4-7. So I haven't given them to her at all yet; I don't want to have to tell her to quit halfway through. I give her a lot of other stuff instead.

 

This is one of my complaints about HP; I see what she was trying to do, and it worked nicely for kids 'growing up' with Harry, but it's not really fair on young readers IMO.

 

(Just for information's sake, I am a big fantasy fan and read a good deal, so it's not that I have problems with magic or anything.)

[Lizzie in Ma]

Once they have begun the series, how can they understand the darkness and how good triumphs over evil in the end if they are not allowed to complete the story?

 

Good things do happen. There is love in the midst of the darkness. There are relationships that show life goes on for better or for worse and that it is worth living. There are friendships that stand against the horrors. Harry is not alone.

 

It would be like stopping LOTR right after the Mines of Moria, or right after Gollum bites the ring off Frodo's hand. How would you know why it was worth all the heartache and pain and anguish if you didn't complete the books?

 

Yes, the last 3 are dark but only by reaching the end can you see how it was all worth it.

 

 

ok, you can throw stuff at me now

[Mom2legomaniacs]

My recently turned 7 ds is working his way through book 7. He has read the whole series himself up to this point. He does fine with it. He has also seen all the movies thus far, but not in the theater (at home). He is one to have bad dreams, so we are more careful with what we let him see. But he is doing fine with these. Some do fine, some do not. Totally depends on the child. If yours is okay thus far, probably fine with the rest. But you are only one who can determine for sure.

[Laurie4b]

My vote is that you do read them yourself. That is the only way that you'll know whether they are right for your child. What will cause nightmares for one child will not bother another.

 

There is certainly stuff in ALL of the books that could bother some children. And yes, book 4 has a very gruesome scene it in. Book 5 has a lot of sadism from a "bad-guy" (actually female) professor, etc.

[mysticamethyst]

I think you know your son best. Books 4-7 are scary, my two youngest haven't seen them and don't want to, they know they are scary; they made the choice. I would say it's okay to read them, only because he understands it is completely fictional. To see it might be another story, see what he says after he has read each book before you decide on the movies. Good luck with your decision and for what it's worth I would suggest that you read them as well, they really are a fun read.:001_smile:

[LauraGB]

I would suggest, as others, that you read them yourself first. Or you can read them together (or listen to the audio books together) so you can discuss some of the bigger events that take place. My kids read them all when they were younger, and then the 6th and 7th when they came out and it was fine.

 

With the movies, I would suggest either watching them together or you previewing them. IMO, its easier to read the books to get your own vision of what's happening than to see it played out on screen, which can be disturbing. There are some parts ds still doesn't like to watch, eventhough he knows the story by heart (he's got an aversion to shrunken heads, lol). But dd is completely fine with all of them.

[JFSinIL]

You HAVE to preread them. Be ready to discuss the more adult (well, teen) stuff that crops up in the later books, in addition to the growing darkness. Shoot - I can't write too much since YOU HAVE NOT read the books and I do not want to spoil them for you!!!!! :glare:

[dangermom]

Once they have begun the series, how can they understand the darkness and how good triumphs over evil in the end if they are not allowed to complete the story?

 

Good things do happen. There is love in the midst of the darkness. There are relationships that show life goes on for better or for worse and that it is worth living. There are friendships that stand against the horrors. Harry is not alone.

 

It would be like stopping LOTR right after the Mines of Moria, or right after Gollum bites the ring off Frodo's hand. How would you know why it was worth all the heartache and pain and anguish if you didn't complete the books?

 

Yes, the last 3 are dark but only by reaching the end can you see how it was all worth it.

 

ok, you can throw stuff at me now

Well, I agree with all that...which is why I think the whole thing should be put off until my daughter is older. I'm not saying it's a bad series at all--just not appropriate for young kids, unless they have no nerves.

 

The library is stuffed full of wonderful books that are great for 7 and 8 yos who love to read. Nothing terrible will happen if my kid doesn't read HP until she's 10 or 12 or 16 or 38--there's tons of great stuff out there.

[Michelle My Bell]

Well lets just say in the two I have read there is "snogging" going on and other mature themes. I wouldn't let me littles read it.

 

Michelle

[Desert Rat]

We read them aloud here. I gave my ds8 the option of not reading the 7th because I had already read it and new how dark and sad it was. He told me that he had to know how it ended. And there you go. I did try to warn him when a sad part was coming up and told him we could stop at any time. He loved the last book. I love it too.

On the movies, I was hesitant to let them watch the last 2 because I had read all the books and because I have a ds5.5 who would watch with us. But in our house we discuss fantasy and reality and that HP is just make believe and honestly, while I think the movies are dark and can be scary, my boys were really okay with them. Really! And the overall message was good, evil is kept at bay, friends and family are very important, etc.

I don't know about #6 yet. I don't have enough info to make an informed decision.

HTH

[Rhonda in TX]

I honestly believe that books 5-7 (maybe 4) are too old for the young reader. Beyond the sad events (characters dying, etc.), there is too much kissing going on in the later books. They don't need to be reading that at a young age.

 

I know that my kids will want to read them one after the other, so they won't even start them for a few more years yet. I agree with the other poster who said that there are plenty of wonderful books out there to read at a younger age. It gets harder as they get older, so I'm saving these.

 

However, this is my decision with my kids. And, I have read the books, so I know exactly why I made this decision and am confident it's the right one.

[Colleen in SEVA]

Thank you everyone for your input! :) Lots of points to consider. I truly wish I had the time/energy to pre-read the books, but he has read over 600 pages since Monday, compared to less than 100 I've read in my current book. That's why I asked here.

 

I will be sharing your replies with DH as we decide what would be best for Blue. I really appreciate all of your replies, as well as the respectful tone the thread has maintained to those who feel differently.

 

FWIW -- I agree that there are lots of great books he could be reading... and he does. He went through a phase last school year where he "hated reading" so I didn't push it (it was almost as if once he had mastered it, it no longer interested him -- or maybe I was limiting him to books I felt were on his level and he was bored with them?). Now, out of nowhere, he has turned into a voracious reader. He read more than 30 books in June, most of them chapter books. He has already read all of the books I purchased for history this year (more than 20) and we haven't even officially started yet! LOL!!! I'm not sure what made him turn into such a reader all of a sudden, but I'm not complaining!