HP as childrens' books

[bbennett at joymail.com]

No: HPFGUIDX 22293

--- In HPforGrownups at y..., "Amy Z" <aiz24 at h...> wrote:
> This is a really sad commentary on what children are expected to be 
> able to read.
> 
> I totally agree that HP is not *only* for children, but this 
suggests that it is beyond the audience the publishers claim will 
enjoy it.  There are 6-year-olds of my acquaintance who are enjoying 
the books thoroughly and understanding them very well--they'll 
understand them better when they're 10, and still enjoy them when 
they're 33 <g>, but the books are emphatically not too long or 
complex for them.>

Since my comments in my previous post were partially based on my 
friend, the childrens' librarian, I called her to discuss the issue 
further. Here's what she said:

"Part of what defines a book is the reading level. Something age 
appropriate will take the average reader a few days to a week or so 
to read. It may take an 8 year old several weeks to sometimes months 
to read the Potter books - I know, because I see them go out of my 
library. My big problem with this is that because so many kids are 
desperate to read Potter, they spend months struggling through GoF 
and ignoring more age appropriate books that would improve their 
reading and comprehension abilities. And I will argue that most 6 
year olds do not grasp the complexities of GoF. This doesn't mean I 
think children shouldn't read the books, but loving the books and the 
characters and understanding what's going on plot-wise doesn't mean 
they also understand the intricacies of the books on the level that 
an adult does. These are adult books." 

To further emphasize her position that the Potter books are adult 
fiction, she suggested I think about Holes. This Newbery winner is a 
brilliant book - well-written, with great characters and a clever 
plot. I have recommended this book to all ages, and I've yet to find 
someone who didn't think it delightful. But can you classify GoF a 
childrens' book, when Holes, classified as Young Adult, is not nearly 
as complex? 

I know some very smart 8-12 year olds who adore Harry Potter. But if 
you talk to them about the books, they don't have the same 
understanding as do the adults I've known who've also read the books. 
Of course, there are always exceptions, as a few people have 
mentioned on the list, and I'm not saying I think children shouldn't 
read the books, or that they're somehow inappropriate (I recommend 
them to everyone I run across), or that children are somehow 
subhuman. I just believe the Harry Potter books are adult books that 
are being enjoyed by children, and not the other way around. 

> I hope HP has a lasting effect in redefining what children are 
> capable and willing to read.  How many times have we heard it 
> said, "It's so amazing to see children reading a 700-page novel!"? 
I hope it will stop being amazing soon and start being a case of 
children looking at long and complex books and saying "Hey, if I read
Goblet of Fire, I can read this!">

That's my friend's concern - that it *will* redefine what children 
are expected to read, and they'll be pushed into reading books that 
are more than they can handle. There are a lot of *wonderful* 
childrens' books out there (add this to the reasons to be frustrated 
with the NY Times list - an award winning childrens' book must have 
great characters, and excellent plot, AND be written on a level that 
can be understood by the target audience. Tell me it doesn't take as 
much or more effort to write a great childrens' book as it does to 
write an adult best seller!).  Again, I don't want to suggest 
children shouldn't read Harry Potter - I think everyone should read 
Harry Potter! But I don't adults always remember childhood 
accurately. I was an advanced reader, and I've no doubt I could have 
read all four books by age 8. But at that age, I was plowing through 
Trixie Belden - I wasn't reading adult novels (a friend recently told 
me she read Lord of the Rings at age 10 but didn't "get it" until she 
read it as an adult - same sort of thing, I think). 

This is an interesting thread, but if I don't go to the grocery I'm 
going to go broke ordering take out.
:*)

B