Anonymous wrote:My DD is pretty mature for her age so I followed her cue. She read one through seven and then started all over again because she loved them so much. Then she watched the movies, which I probably would not have allowed had she not already read the books.

Same with my 2nd grade DD.

My son started reading it himself in 2nd grade. He read all of them that year.. It does get a bit more mature and scary, but he seemed to be able to process it. I read each after he read one, so we could discuss it. He was fine - but he also tends to be easier to process books (versus movies).

It talks about kissing (snogging actually) but nothing else. And it gets dark - talks about evil and people die, but nothing overly graphic.

The stories themselves are wonderful and very very interesting. And the book has great moral lessons. The advantage of reading to your child is that you can discuss the story as you go along and sort of gauge if you think its too much for them.

I read the first four books with my now 2nd grader (we took turns reading aloud to each other...yes this took a long time), starting with the 1st book in 1st grade (last spring). We'd read a book then watch the film. The end of the fourth book was rough for her. She has decided she doesn't want to watch that film just yet. We are taking a break, and I will follow her lead on when to start up again.

All that said, I can imagine other kids could go through all seven and be okay. I agree with PPs that you know best what your own child can handle.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:
It totally depends on your child's personality - all the books have violent and scary parts to them, and the later books have teen angst and teen attraction in them.

My son read them by himself starting at 6 years old, while also viewing the movies, and I got him to read other things in between (such as The Hobbit) so that he finished the series at 8.

Our principal said at one of the parent meetings that young children reading HP wasn't such a great thing - that many concepts flew over their heads. What she was really worried about was parents pushing their children, probably. Personally, I think she couldn't be more wrong. I was an advanced reader, like my son, and liked nothing more than to re-read my favorite books and discover new layers of meaning to them. Even without re-reading, children remember scenes from stories they have read or have been read, and can process them years later with the hindsight of a more mature brain.

So go ahead, OP!

+1. Same here. I really do not get this common idea that unless someone is going to be able to extract every shred of meaning and nuance possible upon first exposure, they are not yet ready for a literary work. Books can, and IMO often should, be reread.

Another adherent to this theory. I let my kids read pretty much whatever books they're interested in when they express interest. They ask lots of questions, which is a great way to help them process. And then they inevitably re-read and understand more.

OP, my kids started HP at 6 yo and finished by 8 yo. They are relatively sensitive but didn't have any problems with the darkness of the later books.

Anonymous wrote:
It totally depends on your child's personality - all the books have violent and scary parts to them, and the later books have teen angst and teen attraction in them.

My son read them by himself starting at 6 years old, while also viewing the movies, and I got him to read other things in between (such as The Hobbit) so that he finished the series at 8.

Our principal said at one of the parent meetings that young children reading HP wasn't such a great thing - that many concepts flew over their heads. What she was really worried about was parents pushing their children, probably. Personally, I think she couldn't be more wrong. I was an advanced reader, like my son, and liked nothing more than to re-read my favorite books and discover new layers of meaning to them. Even without re-reading, children remember scenes from stories they have read or have been read, and can process them years later with the hindsight of a more mature brain.

So go ahead, OP!

+1. Same here. I really do not get this common idea that unless someone is going to be able to extract every shred of meaning and nuance possible upon first exposure, they are not yet ready for a literary work. Books can, and IMO often should, be reread.

It totally depends on your child's personality - all the books have violent and scary parts to them, and the later books have teen angst and teen attraction in them.

My son read them by himself starting at 6 years old, while also viewing the movies, and I got him to read other things in between (such as The Hobbit) so that he finished the series at 8.

Our principal said at one of the parent meetings that young children reading HP wasn't such a great thing - that many concepts flew over their heads. What she was really worried about was parents pushing their children, probably. Personally, I think she couldn't be more wrong. I was an advanced reader, like my son, and liked nothing more than to re-read my favorite books and discover new layers of meaning to them. Even without re-reading, children remember scenes from stories they have read or have been read, and can process them years later with the hindsight of a more mature brain.

So go ahead, OP!

Anonymous wrote:I read them out loud to my kid in 1st, 1 through to 7. But I love the books, have read them dozens of times myself, and was ready to talk about all the dark stuff with my kid. Also prepared to put the books away if he wasn't enjoying it. He begged for the next book each time we finished one. So I think it depends on the kid. But if you are reading out loud I wouldn't worry about it being too dark - you can process with him. Things in life ARE dark sometimes. I must say that having read those books gave me some language to talk to my kid with, some analogies to use, when we lost people we loved this year.

I was about to write pretty much the same thing. Just finished book 7 with my now third grader. She wasn't too scared, I think she knows it's fiction and I repeatedly had to tell her that there is a happy ending.

We read together and discuss. I don't generally believe books have firm 'maturity levels' the way many people refer to it... my kids of different ages just seem to understand most stories similar to Harry Potter on a level that they are personally ready for while other things and some nuances go over their heads. Books can always be reread, so for now this works for us.

I've never bothered censoring or limiting books based on content as long as the kids seem interested.

My DD is pretty mature for her age so I followed her cue. She read one through seven and then started all over again because she loved them so much. Then she watched the movies, which I probably would not have allowed had she not already read the books.

We read the first 2 books in 1st grade and our advanced reader was able to pick those two books back up and read them after having them read to him. Books 3 and 4 were read in 2nd and 3rd grade and books 5-7 in 4th and 5th grades.

I read them out loud to my kid in 1st, 1 through to 7. But I love the books, have read them dozens of times myself, and was ready to talk about all the dark stuff with my kid. Also prepared to put the books away if he wasn't enjoying it. He begged for the next book each time we finished one. So I think it depends on the kid. But if you are reading out loud I wouldn't worry about it being too dark - you can process with him. Things in life ARE dark sometimes. I must say that having read those books gave me some language to talk to my kid with, some analogies to use, when we lost people we loved this year.

Mine (also an advanced reader) read the first 4 starting at the end of 2nd through the summer, then stopped in the middle of book 5 (a very dark one) She picked them up again at the end of 3rd and finished the series that summer.

I think that through the 3rd book is pretty much ok. Starting in the 4th, the content really gets dark. DD read the first 3 books in 3rd grade and is now in 5th and hasn't continued with the series. I read them concurrently with her, and while the series as a whole is very consistent, the themes do get much more mature by the end.

Half way through the 3rd or 4th book, I can't remember which one, my son stopped reading them because it was getting too dark for him. He is now in 3rd grade and hasn't picked them up again. Make sure you take your que from your son.

I've never actually read HP, so don't hate on me for asking this ...

My understanding is the later HP books are geared for a more mature reader than the early books. So if you started reading the series to your 2nd grader, what do you with the later books? Were they still okay to read to your 2nd grader or was the content too mature?

We will be reading TO him so reading skill level for the books isn't an issue.