the trouble with harry (the 5 year old's perspective)

[jfenne at uwalumni.com]

No: HPFGUIDX 12245

I'm glad to see the posts about reading Harry to/with younger kids. 
I 
began reading the series just last summer; when I was only 2 or 3 
chapters along, my precocious daughter (just shy of 5 years old at
the 
time) begged me to read Sorcerer's Stone to her.  Knowing she'd be
all 
the more insistent if I just told her it was meant for older kids,
and 
sure that a chapter book of that length wouldn't hold her interest
for 
long anyway, I indulged her request.  We've now read through all four 
books twice together (with some editing of the closing chapters of 
GoF).  She delights in the magical elements and the adventures while 
seemingly able to insulate herself from the frightening ones--she 
hasn't, at least, expressed any fears of losing her parents or seen 
boggarts in the closet.  And she uses the stories to fuel her 
imagination in wonderful ways--the other night she pretended (with 
Barbies) that a mermaid transformed Percy, of all people, into a 
merman and guided him to her treasure trove at the bottom of the
lake, 
where he chose a necklace that acted as a portkey and carried him to 
another world.

So I have no regrets about introducing her to the first four books at 
a rather tender age.  In fact, I've been amazed at her attention 
span and impressed by what she does understand about character 
relationships and motivation.  The expression on her face the first 
time she heard the "Priori Incantatem" chapter in GoF--she was
feeling 
what it would be like for Harry to see the shades of his parents. It 
was incredible.  

But the movie--now, that's a different situation. That will bring to 
life some pretty unnerving images that I think she's managed to
screen 
herself from.  A creeping figure drinking unicorn blood? A face on
the 
back of someone's head?  What do other parents of younger Harry fans 
think about this?