harry potter books

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Forum -> Parenting our children -> School age children

Harry potter books

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bluesclues ↓

Tue, Jul 21 2009, 2:44 pm

my 7 yr old son is bh an amazing reader
we got the first 2 books in the series which I know are appropriate for him
I wanted to know at what point do these books become inappropriate (what number in the series)

thank you for your help

sim

Tue, Jul 21 2009, 2:50 pm

I had the same experience with my dd, who started reading at age 4 1/2 and was reading chapter books at 6. He can read the first 3 safely, but I would wait on number 4 until he's at least 9. The last 3 I didn't let her read until she was 10, and I felt that she found the last one quite frightening. The girl-boy stuff went right over her head, b/c she's just that type of kid. You have to know if this is an issue with your child before you allow those, but I strongly recommend that you read all of them before he does. Actually, I read almost everything my dd reads before she gets to it and make the inappropriate ones "disappear" without her noticing.

tovasmom

Tue, Jul 21 2009, 2:54 pm

Inappropriate in terms of mild "boy girl" situations? Inappropriate in terms of people getting killed in the books? For violence I would say end of 4, getting progressively worse. First boy girl situations none at all before book 4 "Goblet of Fire" and getting somewhat worse in 6 and 7. After 4, they get progressively more frightening also, as the power of "he who shall not be named" expands.

dee's mommy ↓

Tue, Jul 21 2009, 6:04 pm

It depends on your hashkafa. I read all the books as an adult before I became a mother, and most before I was married. Based on that, I personally would not allow my children to read any of the books. (Once one starts to read the first and second book, a child who is an avid reader would want to continue to read the next book and the next book.)

In the third book, there is one mention that Harry sees a girl and thinks that she is very pretty. There are also some mentions of memories of the murder of one of the characters.

In the fourth book, the teenage dating scene starts, and continues throughout the series, getting more intense with each book. Also, we have the first death in the book. After that, there is at least one death per book, and many in the last book.

The whole series has violent scenes, and gets more intense as the series progresses.

(This is not reflective of how I enjoyed the books. I enjoyed them very much. While I was reading them the first time around, I remember thinking that these books were not appropriate for children, and better suited for adults.)

This is just my opinion, and my own decision for my own family. Hope this helps.

PinkFridge ↓

Tue, Jul 21 2009, 6:19 pm

Wow. How timely. My almost 10 y.o. wanted to read the books and I know I'd never get through them to preread them. Talking to other mothers, I decided to stop after 3.

Merrymom

Tue, Jul 21 2009, 7:44 pm

All the books are terribly scary for a seven year old. I would never allow it and didn't until my children were 10.

Raisin ↓

Wed, Jul 22 2009, 1:32 am

I agree that it is torture to let a child read the first few and then not the last ones.

red sea

Wed, Jul 22 2009, 5:01 am

Book # 4 is kosher enough if you omit one chapter, if you want to know which I will ask the expert. Also there is pressure to have read the whole series and is somewhat difficult to stop in the middle of the series and for the greatest of fans there are more than 7 books, I think there are 10, 3 not directly part of the series.

↑ PinkFridge ↓

Wed, Jul 22 2009, 6:37 am

Raisin, you're right. I do feel bad about it, but B"H he was mekabel well. (It helped that we went to a few library programs this week at libraries we don't usually go to and we found enough else to distract him.)

↑ bluesclues

Wed, Jul 22 2009, 6:43 am

Thank you everyone for your help

Faygeh I would love to know what other books you got at the library
I feel like my son has read it all

greenfire ↓

Wed, Jul 22 2009, 7:26 am

if your child is an avid reader - they are usually more mature than the average kid ...

we read them together as a family - but then again they first came out when dd2 was 11, so the kiddies were not that little ...

cassandra ↓

Wed, Jul 22 2009, 7:26 am

red sea wrote:

it's probably the chapter called The Unexpected Task.

Raisin, I remember you once asked me about this and I never remembered to answer you, because I do read them with my kids (6 and 7). They are good enough readers to read it on their own but we decided that Harry Potter would be something that we read together- we get to spend time together, they enjoy being read to, and I can skip over or change things that I don't think are appropriate. My kids discovered a site called Harry Potter wiki so they already know the outcomes of all the characters and won't be devastated when the good ones die.

SPOILER ALERT:

(Even though the hardest I ever cried when reading a book was at G. Weasley's death, even though I knew it was coming.)

Last edited by cassandra on Wed, Jul 22 2009, 8:06 am; edited 1 time in total

↑ greenfire ↓

Wed, Jul 22 2009, 7:31 am

cassandra wrote:

(Even though the hardest I ever cried when reading a book was at G. Weasley's death, even though I knew it was coming.)

spoiler alert - for those of us who never read it - or simply forgot what happened WHEN was this ?!?!?!

↑ cassandra ↓

Wed, Jul 22 2009, 8:05 am

End of The Deathly Hallows.

You're right- I will edit.

devy88

Wed, Jul 22 2009, 8:28 am

[quote="cassandra"]

red sea wrote:

SPOILER ALERT:

(Even though the hardest I ever cried when reading a book was at G. Weasley's death, even though I knew it was coming.)

I think you should clarify...it wasn't Ginny Weasley, it was George Weasley... Ginny ends up married to Harry

↑ greenfire ↓

Wed, Jul 22 2009, 8:34 am

yelling out spoiler alert - is like saying "nisht geredt oif shabbos" What

↑ PinkFridge ↓

Wed, Jul 22 2009, 9:47 am

I can go check my notebook with the lists of books (only way to keep track, even with email alerts). Truth is, he's not really into fantasy, though he did read the Charlie Bone books. (Were those fantasy? Don't remember.) He likes sports books, among other things. He also just read a bunch of Gordon Korman scholastic series - Everest (I loved it!), Dive, Island, and one of the Falconers' series.

This is not meant to be an endorsement of any books. You take out books from the public library (others too, but especially the public) at your peril. If you don't preread books, don't assume everything by a particular author's ok, and you may want to skim books or get input from other parents whose judgment you trust. (You don't know me well enough to know if you can trust mine Twisted Evil

Mama Bear

Wed, Jul 22 2009, 10:09 am

I hardly think that a year later you still need to write 'spoiler alert' on a book that most people have already read, and has been widely discussed all over.

Sherri ↓

Wed, Jul 22 2009, 10:24 am

You never know what will pop up in a kids book- Gordon Korman has a book about a kid whose family is involoved in the Mafia- okay, innocent enough.

Until his brother hires a woman to be with him for the night as a gift to make up for ruining things with his girlfriend. I was horrified. This is not Bruno and Boots!

↑ greenfire ↓

Wed, Jul 22 2009, 11:00 am

Mama Bear wrote:

I hardly think that a year later you still need to write 'spoiler alert' on a book that most people have already read, and has been widely discussed all over.

I beg to differ - because some people didn't read the last book or two yet ...

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