Age suitability of canon

[aurigae_prime <ZaraLyon@aol.com>]

Melpomene writes:
> I'm *not* talking about the occasional exceptional child (and just 
so 
> we're on the same page here, both chidren referred to in my 
previous 
> post are in fact "gifted" by whatever definition is being used by 
> schools these days--IQ is one that I know of--being annoyingly 
> precocious is certainly another) who FINDS a book on their own and 
> devours it. Yes that most certainly happens. I am talking about the 
> more common situation where a PARENT finds it absolutely necessary 
to 
> jump on the bandwagon and because she (almost always a she) reads 
or 
> hears  1. the the books are Enormously Popular! and/or 2. Janet 
> Jones' seven year old read it and had no problem so what's wrong 
with 
> yours?
> This parent runs out and in quick succession force reads material 
to 
> a young child that is, in the opinion of the *writer herself*, 
> inappropriate for a child that age!

I'd like to point out that, although JKR may feel that the books were 
not appropriate for her own daughter, that doesn't mean that they are 
inappropriate for all children of that age. IMO, no one knows what's 
best for a child like the parents *of that child* (for clarification, 
I'm not referring to abusive or otherwise unfit parents, I am 
referring to the run-of-the-mill parent). 

> We also must make a diferentiation between what a child is able to 
> READ and what that same child is able to UNDERSTAND. Yes, even a 
> GIFTED child. Sure they understand more big words and possibly even 
> some more adult concepts. But it is the RARE seven year old, gifted 
> or otherwise who is ready to fully appreciate PoA at any more than 
> face value. (I use PoA as my example instead of GoF because in my 
> personal opinion it is a far more complex and compelling story) It 
is 
> a RARE, seven year old, gifted or otherwise who will benefit at all 
> from reading the graveyard scene in GoF. The point here is not "No 
7 
> year old should ever EVER read GoF" but "WHY does a 7 year old NEED 
> to read GoF?" 

And my answer to that is, provided that the child can handle 
the "scary" aspects of the book, to read a damn good story! 
Sometimes, you just read because you want to know what happens. You 
aren't consciously reading to "get something" out of the book, you're 
reading because you like the story and care about the characters. The 
first time I read the HP books, at least PS/SS through PoA, I was 
reading because I liked the story, because it held my interest. It 
wasn't until I was reading them for the second or third time that I 
really started to think about the themes. I was reading for fun. 
There is nothing wrong with reading at face value. And I also believe 
that children do pick things up, even if they can't articulate them 
yet.  

> I do not censor my children's reading. I don't have to. 
> (Neither one of them reads enough to bother, dammit, but currently 
> Son is reading LOTR and Daugter is reading something by LeGuin--
> Catwings?) Face it, the AVERAGE 7 year old is not going to 
gravitate 
> to a 700 page book with no pictures. Period.

LotR I still haven't read. I tried when I was 12 and again last year 
after I saw the movie, but I stay stuck 1/4 through Two Towers. :-) 
Catwings is a terrific book though. As for 700 pages and no pictures, 
well, I must have been not at all average. For me, books ended too 
quickly. 700 pages would have been a heaven on earth for me. ;-)

Rhiannon