Helping Muggle children handle end of book 6 (spoilers)

[amis917]

--- In HPFGU-OTChatter at yahoogroups.com, Mhochberg at a... wrote:
> As more and more young (under age 10) children are finishing book 6, 
I am having to explain, help understand, soothe, and otherwise deal 
with some very upset children. 
>  Does anyone have suggestions on how to handle this? My son, who is 
14, says he can't talk about it because he is too upset. A ten year old 
girl just looks at me and cries. A 9 year old boy is angry and yelling 
at everyone about it. 
>  
> ---Mary
> 
> 


A few days ago, The Leaky Cauldron Posted this link:
 
http://www.boston.com/ae/books/articles/2005/07/21/young_potter_readers_
need_to_talk_grieve/ 

It's an arcticle about how kids need to talk about the book. It gives a 
few ideas. Basically it just says to give kids a safe place where they 
can talk about their feelings. As for kids who are too upset to talk 
about it, they may need to write. I'm not good at putting things in to 
verbal langauge, but I always feel better after I write my feelings 
down. You could then discuss their writings with them. I know I needed 
support, and I'm 22. Luckily, these kids have someone in you who has 
read the book and is concerned. I think we're going to be geting more 
advice on this very topic because the ending is upsetting and kids will 
be affected. The atrticle also disucsses how fiction can be used to 
discuss things that are bothering kids in real life. 

I was just thinking, maybe you could make up some kind of survey, with 
questions for the kids to answer. (maybe too much like homework though) 
You could ask about their feelings on different parts of the story not 
just the ending. The rest of the book is filled with love and humor - 
but the end leaves you with a horrible feeling. Maybe by talking about 
the more enjoyable parts of the story (Fred and George's shop, Ron and 
Lavander, Harry and Ginny, etc) it'll make talking about the end 
easier. I've started rereading the book slowly; it's helping me 
remember the funny parts of the story.

I hope this helps. I'm not a parent, so I don't know what that's like. 
I am a teacher, so I tried to look at it from that perspective.

- Amie, who's mom commited the one major error the article said parents 
shouldn't do. Tell kids "it's just a book". It makes you feel worse, 
trust me.