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View Full Version : How old to read Harry Potter books?



dhano923
07-18-2011, 01:42 AM
My 7.5yo DS has been asking to read the Harry Potter books. I have them all, since I bought them for myself, so that's not an issue. I'm just wondering if he's at an appropriate age to read them. If you let your child read the books, how old were they at the time? I'm just trying to get a feel on whether I should let him read them now or wait a little longer.

thanks!

essnce629
07-18-2011, 01:47 AM
DS1 will be 8 in August and just recently finished the entire series (it took him about 10 months). He loved them!

ellies mom
07-18-2011, 03:44 AM
I think it really depends on the child and what they can handle rather than a set age. You know your child better than we do. What do you think?

I know I would be OK with my 7.5 yo reading the first three but I'm not sure about the fourth and I'm pretty sure I'd like her to be older to read the fifth.



Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

egoldber
07-18-2011, 06:37 AM
:yeahthat:

I agree that it varies by child. My older DD had no real interest until she was 8.5 and then she read them all in about 2 months.

klwa
07-18-2011, 06:37 AM
*sigh* DH started reading HP1 to DS(5) this weekend. I've told him he can't go past 3 at this point.

LBW
07-18-2011, 06:51 AM
:yeahthat:

I agree that it varies by child. My older DD had no real interest until she was 8.5 and then she read them all in about 2 months.

Exactly that!

I did not let him see any of the movies past the first one w/out reading the books first. I was so happy he finished them all in time to see the last movie with me in the theater!

TwinFoxes
07-18-2011, 06:59 AM
I think there's a big leap in scariness from the first to last. Because JK Rowling wrote them and the fans grew up in the years between books. I think the first one is a kids book, but the last couple are more young adult. I agree with pps, it's definitely a YMMV thing.

*myfoursons
07-18-2011, 08:23 AM
DS (6) is pretty sensitive, but LOVES the whole series. It's the only thing he wants to read, and he's just finished re-reading the whole series. He knows all the minute details, and has taught his brothers all of the spells. We have little wizards throwing curses and spells around the house. Even my 2 year old has a wand and shouts out "leviosa"! And then he gets corrected that it's "wingardium leviosa, silly"

In comparison, Percy Jackson scared the crap out of him. Not sure why he viewed them differently, but he did.

SnuggleBuggles
07-18-2011, 09:21 AM
We tried when he was 5 but he didn't have the attention span for them. We tried when he was close to 7, iirc. We didn't tackle book 4+ till he was 8 but he has been perfectly fine with them. I read them to him even though he could read them on his own.

eta- we got 1/3 of the way through book 7 when he started reading Percy Jackson at school. We are now through 4.5 of those books and HP is on hold. He loves PJ. They do make a more fun read aloud, that's for sure!

Beth

brittone2
07-18-2011, 09:32 AM
We've been holding off our 7.5 yo from reading them.

DS1 is an advanced reader, but still gets worked up over things with super suspenseful content or anything scary. He managed to get through the first 5 books of Lemony Snickett but that was too scary to read before bedtime.

I think he'll get more enjoyment out of them if he holds off a bit longer. He's a sensitive kid. I can't wait though, because I've never read the HP series. I've been holding off so I can read it for the first time with him. I have 2 copies of the first few books so we can each have our own ;)

almostmom
07-18-2011, 09:34 AM
DS is about 30 pages from the end of book 4 right now, and he is 7 1/2. We read the first book mostly together starting in the winter. Then in April, he picked it up and started reading himself from where we had left off, and hasn't stopped since. I'm trying to keep up with him, and am about 100 pages behind him. It's been really fun to read them together and talk about the exciting scenes, or clarify or elaborate on what happened.

I will say that even though I originally said he might want to take a break after 4, there is no way I could hold to that now. He is loving them so much, and it's so wonderful to see him reading all the time that I couldn't stop him. I do think that kids see some of the scary stuff differently (to us it seems horrific that there is a challenge where the player thinks if they fail their friend might die, but to DS is was a really exciting scene where a boy turned ... well, no spoilers, you know, turns into something). I'm sure he'll re-read them someday and get more out of them, but right now he is reading non-stop. I only have read through #4, and I know they get scarier. I think I'll have to preview the rest of the movies before we watch them, though many of his friends have seen them. But he'll be off and running on #5 by tonight I'm sure...

Cam&Clay
07-18-2011, 10:02 AM
I started reading them to DS1 when he was almost 6. He was in kindergarten. We read a chapter or two at night before bed two or three times a week, so it took a while to get through the "younger" books which I consider to be the first 3. We also talked a lot about what we had read each night. I'm an HP freak, so I loved savoring every page with him. I had a strict rule about not seeing the movie until he had read the book, so we'd make sure we'd finish before the movies came out.

The thicker books took months to get through. He read the last two on his own, but it seriously took him until he was 10 to finish the series.

DS1 is almost 13 now. We saw the last movie just the two of us on Friday morning. When we left the theater, he told me he felt a little sad because it's now over. No more books for us to share. No more movies. I told him not to fret. DS2 is only 3 and I'd love for DS1 to share reading the books to DS2 when he's ready. Surprisingly, Mr. Cool seemed excited about doing that for his brother.

brittone2
07-18-2011, 10:05 AM
I started reading them to DS1 when he was almost 6. He was in kindergarten. We read a chapter or two at night before bed two or three times a week, so it took a while to get through the "younger" books which I consider to be the first 3. We also talked a lot about what we had read each night. I'm an HP freak, so I loved savoring every page with him. I had a strict rule about not seeing the movie until he had read the book, so we'd make sure we'd finish before the movies came out.

The thicker books took months to get through. He read the last two on his own, but it seriously took him until he was 10 to finish the series.

DS1 is almost 13 now. We saw the last movie just the two of us on Friday morning. When we left the theater, he told me he felt a little sad because it's now over. No more books for us to share. No more movies. I told him not to fret. DS2 is only 3 and I'd love for DS1 to share reading the books to DS2 when he's ready. Surprisingly, Mr. Cool seemed excited about doing that for his brother.

I :love-retry: this post.

BabbyO
07-18-2011, 11:02 AM
I think there's a big leap in scariness from the first to last. Because JK Rowling wrote them and the fans grew up in the years between books. I think the first one is a kids book, but the last couple are more young adult. I agree with pps, it's definitely a YMMV thing.

I definitely agree with this. My cousin read them as they came out. I remember him being about 5 ish when he and his parents started the books. They came out as he grew up and he was old enough to understand and not be scared by the older books.

Now for DS...well, it'll be a bit tougher, because I think he should be older to read the latter half of the series...but I think he could read 1-3 (or have them read to him) between ages 5-7.

jse107
07-18-2011, 02:42 PM
I just started the series about 6 weeks ago with DS who will turn 7 next month. He ADORES them. It's the first book we've read together that he can't put down. Although he could probably read a lot of it himself, we do it as a read aloud. After we finish a book, he gets to watch the movie (we have all the books/movies so it's seamless). Right now we're about half way through book 3. I'll be interested to see how he does as we go along. I thought some of it might get to dark/scary for him, but I'll just keep letting him take the lead.

I've been waiting to share these with him and I'm so excited that he loves them! I was hesitant at first because he is pretty sensitive but that hasn't been an issue at all.

kijip
07-18-2011, 02:59 PM
T is a very advanced reader but a very sensitive child. Very sensitive to violence. He has not been interested at all in them because the magic stuff turned him off. He is now eight. Yesterday, I started reading the first one out loud to him. He is really liking it so far. We read four chapters yesterday night and 3 this morning. I figure we will just keep reading as long as he is ok with it. I do't think he would be ok with the movies right now. We will see how he does with the end of the first book.

jse107
07-18-2011, 03:27 PM
Katie--I was sure that would be an issue for us, but surprisingly he has loved the movies too. I thought the scenes with Voldemort would really turn him off, and I even warned him about them--he surprised me thought and loved it! I'm following O's lead and just taking it one book and movie at a time.

lmintzer
07-18-2011, 03:45 PM
My older DS (age 10) read the whole series this past year (starting when he was 9.5. He absolutely loved them. I did once find him in his bed reading with tears streaming down his face. He was sad but not completely overwhelmed.

He's only seen the first movie. We are going to watch them in order.

I'm concerned with my 7.5 year-old seeing the films. He was fine with the firs one, but I hear they get really intense. I'm not sure how we're going to get away with watching them with one kiddo and not the other, considering they go to bed at about the same time.

Melanie
07-18-2011, 06:36 PM
My son will get the first for his 10th birthday, he is very excited.

carolinamama
07-18-2011, 08:37 PM
We read books 1 and 2 to DS1 last fall when he was 5. He loved them. However, we have stopped as they get darker. We've decided that he has to be able to read the rest of the books by himself and since he can't read now, it won't be until he is a bit older.

ncat
07-19-2011, 12:05 AM
DD (6.5) read some of book 1 at daycare and was overjoyed to find that we have it at home. I am torn - it seems like there are more age appropriate books out there, but I am happy to see her show an interest in pretty much anything besides the Daisy Meadows/rainbow magic fairies books.

dhano923
07-19-2011, 01:32 AM
Thanks everyone. DS is a bit on the sensitive side, which is why I haven't let him watch the movies, but I'm thinking I'll let him start with book 1 and see how it goes. The first couple books aren't as intense as the later books, so I think I'll let him read the first 3 or 4 and then see how it goes.

thanks again for the feedback!

hellbennt
07-19-2011, 09:18 AM
my ds is sensitive, too.
I've started reading him books *I* used to love, by Andre Norton- also about magic. We're almost through Seven Spells to Sunday (http://www.amazon.com/Seven-Spells-Sunday-Andre-Norton/dp/0671560867)


Also: I love to check out reviews at Common Sense Media (www.commonsensemedia.org)

kboyle
07-19-2011, 01:26 PM
i read books 1-3 out loud to ds1&2 when they were 5 & 3 (ds1 in K). ds1 started reading the series on his own at the beginning of last school yr (2nd gr). he read book 1 in about a week and book 2 about 4 mos later in a few weeks. right after the holidays he started book 3 and hasn't stopped the series, he's currently reading book 5. he loves them, but has also seen all the movies (we will see last one on Friday). he's not particularly sensitive to violent movies or death.