Harry Potter...book vs. movie for 6.5 year old?

[sarahsthreads]

DD1 was invited to a Harry Potter themed birthday party. We were trying to hold off on starting the books for a bit, figuring that if she's too young for the last book we shouldn't start the first, kwim? But the invitation was intricately HP themed, leading me to believe all party activities and such will be as well, and she will have no context at all to understand what's going on.

DH thinks that most of these kids will have seen the movie, not read the book, so that would be a better way for her to be introduced to the HP world. I am firmly in the "book first" camp (especially because the book was a million times better than the movie) but we'd never be able to finish reading it aloud before the party (well, DD1 could, but I'm not willing to loan her my hardcover copy to read at her own speed!)

WWYD?

Sarah :)

[Ceepa]

Let her watch the first movie. It's pretty tame comparatively and you don't have time for the book. Plus, I don't think it would spoil the book for her if she reads it later, IMO.

[Cam&Clay]

Read the book. Please read the book. The movie is good, but please read the book.

As far as her not being old enough for the last book, it took us years to get through them all reading a few chapters aloud. I started DS1 in kindergarten and read all the way through to 4th grade.

[KrisM]

Normally, I'd say book, but in this case, I'd do the movie. I'd hate to have the end of a book ruined because she hasn't finished it before the party.

[wolverine2]

Would she really feel that out of it if she hadn't read it or seen the movie? Like if you just told her about all the characters and some of the story? My DS hasn't seen Star Wars (we would be ok with it now, just haven't gotten to it), but he picks up stuff from other kids and "plays" star wars all the time and has been to star wars birthday parties and can tell you lots of the characters. Will everyone else have seen it really?

[kijip]

I personally think it should be based on if your daughter is ready for the themes. My almost 8 year old son is not down with it. It would scare him, especially Quirell being hosting/being controlled by Voldemort. Some 5 year olds would be ok with it. It is all based on the child. T has not watched or started reading HP yet.

I would not be all that worried about being confused at the party. She is smart, she will catch on and it is a party. Many people basically just have a de facto paper goods and favor theme. I can't imagine there will be a Quidditch rules quiz!

[SnuggleBuggles]

Let her watch the first movie. It's pretty tame comparatively and you don't have time for the book. Plus, I don't think it would spoil the book for her if she reads it later, IMO.

:yeahthat:

Though I would start reading. It's a good age for the 1st book. :) The books get longer, take longer to read so youu can delay the later books for a while. But 1-3 are good.

Beth

[bisous]

DS1 is 7 and I have the same reservations that you have about starting the series. The first couple of books would be fine, I'm sure for DS but the later books are much too dark...so I don't want to start yet!

If I were you, I'd do the movie and save (and savor!) the books when your DD gets a little older. I really don't think that the plot of book 1 will be ruined by the movie. The book is a treat in and of itself and I imagine she'll enjoy it tremendously when she is ready!

[klwa]

DS hasn't seen the movie or read (with us) the book at 5. Yet, he knows who Harry Potter, Ron, Dobby, and Lucius Malfoy are. He wanted an HP Lego set with HP, D, & LM, so DH got it. He has no clue as to the plot of the story, but would be perfectly happy running around playing Harry Potter. Just as he's never watched Transformers, yet that's one of his favorite things to play. So, my vote is, don't stress about not knowing the story line at this point. She'll pick up quick enough if they're pretending to do magic spells, etc.

[baymom]

My 6.5 year old DS has really gotten into HP in the last five/six months and DH and I were really hesitant to let him watch the movie. In the end, I checked out the audio book from the library (excellent!!) and he heard it first. Then, we all watched the movie together, and it was really fun for him since he already knew what to expect. Now, he is reading the book and is delighting in the parts were the movie and book diverged. I highly recommend the audiobook, but it is loooong!

[zoestargrove]

another option is to borrow the book on cd from the library. I thought it was really well read.

[wendmatt]

Are they going to watch the movie at the party? I wouldn't worry about it, as long as she knows who Harry Potter is, a wizard boy, it's just a party. We just started HP 1 and DD is 8.5. We'll watch the movie after we finish the book.

[KpbS]

I personally think it should be based on if your daughter is ready for the themes. My almost 8 year old son is not down with it. It would scare him, especially Quirell being hosting/being controlled by Voldemort. Some 5 year olds would be ok with it. It is all based on the child. T has not watched or started reading HP yet.

I would not be all that worried about being confused at the party. She is smart, she will catch on and it is a party.

:yeahthat:
My 6.5 yo would LOVE to start HP but I know he is not ready. He is very sensitive and I really want him to be able to enjoy the books (and then the movies) when he is ready emotionally.

I would give her a basic summary of the plot/characters and let her enjoy the party. They won't have all seen the movie and certainly not have read the books as many aren't there with their reading skills.

[jent]

I would not be all that worried about being confused at the party. She is smart, she will catch on and it is a party. Many people basically just have a de facto paper goods and favor theme. I can't imagine there will be a Quidditch rules quiz!

That's what I would think, too. I would guess you can enjoy the theme without knowing everything. Just like DD likes the princesses, even though she's yet to see a single princess movie (hey, she complains that Dora is too scary sometimes!)

[sarahsthreads]

Thanks for all the thoughts!

We started reading the book to her tonight - DH read the first chapter and I read the second, and she was begging me to keep going! I always put our read-aloud books on the very top shelf of her closet so she can't get them down herself and finish them with a flashlight under the covers, but I'm not sure that's enough precaution for this book. ;)

I convinced DH to start with the book, because she can imagine things to be as scary (or not scary) as she wants. I'd have to rewatch the movie, but I vaguely remember it being pretty dark and scary at the end?

Probably she'd be OK at the party without having read the book or seen the movie, but the invitation mentioned that they'd be sorted into houses, and take potions and herbology classes, and so on. By the time I manage to explain all the things in the invitation, we might as well read the book. If we don't finish it by the party, at least Harry will have gotten to Hogwarts and started classes, and she'll have an idea what muggles and quidditch and butterbeer are!

I also skimmed the end of the book to refresh my memory, and it "ends" enough that we can probably stop with book 1 and wait a bit for the next book. (Besides, we're interrupting me reading The Long Winter and DH reading My Father's Dragon to get in as much of HP as we can before the party. Have to get back to those eventually...)

Sarah :)

[SnuggleBuggles]

The end of the movie is scary for like 5-10 seconds. I close my eyes when you think Voldemort is gone. :) It's that last little surprise where he comes back that is scary. Not really a dark, scary though just a suspenseful one with a bit of cartoonish type "gore" as Quirrel turns to dust.

Beth

[sariana]

I convinced DH to start with the book, because she can imagine things to be as scary (or not scary) as she wants.

I was going to post something along these lines earlier, but my computer was having problems. I'm glad you're reading the book with her. I don't think my DS (almost 7) is ready for it yet, and DH is not a fan.:(