When to start reading Potter to little ones?

Tiffany B. Clark minnesotatiffany at hotmail.com
Tue Oct 9 19:42:36 UTC 2007


> Katie wrote:

> I am interested in everyone's opinion. I have a 4 year old and a
> 2 year old and one on the way. The kids know all about HP from me,
> because they see me reading it all the time..
<SNIP>
> I am beginning to wonder if it's time to start reading SS to
> my 4 year old? We have done some chapter type books, reading
> one chapter each day, so he has the patience... I just wonder
> if it's a little beyond him.

Tiffany:

I was 11 when SS came out & I had some troubles with it, but after
a while of reading it over again, it was not a big deal for me then.
It seems that 9-12 age range is the default recommended age for the
books, but I saw kids as young as 5 & 6 reading the books back in
1997. It's all fine & dandy for me to read a book at that age, but
make sure they can handle the violence imbued in there.

It's also important to make sure the kid likes fantasy stories &
is mature for his age.  I don't see anything wrong with letting
kids that age read the Potter books, but make sure they know what's
 really in the books. I was at the ideal age for the books when
they were first released in 1997, both in maturity & ability to
handle the contents.

The real key is that loving Harry Potter & wishing to be the next
Potterholic is all just fine with me, but it's best preview the
books yourself & make sure if the kids can handle the books before
you give them the books.  Don't appear to be telling the kids that
they can't have the books without explaining yourself or it'll
just feed their desire to get them even more & possibly create
some resentment.

Based on my experiences & preferences, it seems that what you
don't say and/or do matters as much if not more so than what
you actually say and/or do. I had some teachers in my classes
in middle school in 1997 who talking about them like they were
good to get kids to read, but others were afraid of some of the
"darker sides" of it.




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