What age to start reading/watching Harry Potter?

[limabean]

I know some MDC mamas don't censor their kids' media at all, so I guess this question is more intended for those of you who do wait until certain ages to read/watch certain things. 

My 6yo DS had never expressed an interest in Harry Potter until recently, but now he's interested in reading the books. I've never read them, but I've heard that the series grows with its audience, getting darker as time goes on. Would 6 be an appropriate age to read the first book? I'm talking both in terms of content and the actual language level -- I started reading the first book of the Chronicles of Narnia to DS when he was 5 and he wasn't quite ready for it linguistically -- it was too far above his comprehension level. So I'm interested hearing answers regarding both aspects -- thanks! 

[kittywitty]

Well I do wait until certain ages for some things but do not for Harry Potter. My 3 yo knows a lot of it by heart. I do censor out some of the scarier parts and she's usually asleep when dh reads, say, the graveyard scene to my 6 yo. But my 6 yo has been hearing/seeing HP all her life, so it's not a big deal for her. I would not read them to her or let her watch them before you personally do. All kids are different and you know your kids best.

[Daffodil]

I started reading the Harry Potter books to my DD a couple of months before she turned 6, and we finished the last one before she was 6 1/2.  She also saw most of the movies somewhere around that time period.  The first book was almost too scary for her, but she really enjoyed it.  She found the second one less scary, and was okay with all the later ones.  They get darker, but not necessarily in ways that make them scarier for a young kid.  (I did warn her ahead of time about a couple of deaths.)  Some kids might find the movies scarier than the books, but I think DD agreed with me that the movies were less scary.  I had already read DD all the Narnia books before the Harry Potter books, and I think of Harry Potter as a bit more difficult to comprehend, but maybe more because of the subject matter than the language.

[bandgeek]

I just started reading the first book to my 6 year old and he's doing fine with it.  The first book isn't that scary, IMO.  We'll be watching the movie as soon as we are done with the book.  I don't know if I'll read anything past the 3rd book to him anytime soon, but we'll play it by ear.

[leighi123]

I've read the first book with my ds (It was just after he turned 3) and he really likes the story.  He has listened to the book on tape for the first 3, books, but didnt want to listen to the 4th.  

[LynnS6]

Depends on your child. If he's interested, I'd try reading them to him.

My kids are highly sensitive and suggestible, and so we've held off on Harry Potter (books, we don't do movies much). For my kids, that's the right decision. Many other kids could handle it at 6-8. Ds is 9, and I think he's finally ready. Dd is 6 and is NOT ready at all.

[limabean]

Thanks for all the replies. It sounds like there's quite a wide range, but I'm glad to see that others with similarly aged kids are being cautious about introducing the series. 

We did end up buying the first book today, so we'll see how he does with it. So far I've told him that if he likes it we can read the next book when he's 7 (in October). 

[MAMom]

My DS became interested in HP at about 6 1/2 because others in his school were reading.  He is now 7 1/2 and we just finished the last book.  I think we read the first 5 books to him, and there were definitely places where we skipped or altered certain words/sections in the earlier books, but by the last 2 or 3 books, he was following closely along when we read and would call us out for doing that and he was also reading them on his own as well.

HP wouldn't have been my first choice (and it was quite a chore for me to read them outloud--just not my thing) but he really wanted to read them.  I was uncomfortable with the content in the 7th book, but by that point there was no turning back. 

We have not allowed him to see the movies and don't plan to anytime soon as he is very sensitive to even scary cartoons.

[TEAK's Mom]

My oldest dd resisted HP for a long time because, "everyone reads them." Then, when she was 7 (she's 8.5 now), her uncle gave her the British editions and she consented to read the first book. Then, she read one a day for the rest of the week and has re-read them countless times since (she's a fast reader). 

My youngest dd is 6 and just finished reading Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix with DP. She is more sensitive, but is really loving the books. It helps that DP does amazing voices.

[4evermom]

We just started reading the series (ds is 9 1/2).  I read Narnia to him a couple of years ago but he just wasn't that interested in HP.  The first HP book was fine for my ds.  In the second book, he found the parts when Harry heard voices (the Basilisk in the wall saying "kill" etc) scary so I glossed over them, just saying Harry heard the voice again.  Ds had seen the movie and was kind of reading over my shoulder so he told me not to read that part when I got to it.  We're at the beginning of the third book, now.

[Alyantavid]

I tried reading Harry Potter to both of mine about a year ago, so 7 and 3.  Neither were interested.  We've watched the movies many times.  My almost 9 year old has seen every bit of them but we do skip some parts for my 4.5 year old.

I'm just starting the Chronicles of Narnia with my older son.  He still isn't interested in reading Harry Potter though.

[4evermom]

Originally Posted by Alyantavid 
 He still isn't interested in reading Harry Potter though.

My 9 yo wasn't actually interested when we started, either.  But I had the book in the car and we ended up having a long wait so I started reading to pass the time.  He immediately said, "Hey, this is a lot better than the movie."   He prefers things like the Hardy Boys to fantasy stories.

[beanma]

Well, I guess I'm in the minority, but I knew that the series got progressively darker so I made a conscious decision not to do them as a read aloud with dd1. Dd1 (9) checked out the first one from school this year to read on her own. A lot of the other kids at school were really into them and reading them (further along) and she felt inspired to give it a go. I was really thrilled because while I wouldn't characterize her as a "reluctant reader" she's been much more comfortable with magazines and shorter books, and graphic novels. I found that very frustrating because this is a kid who lives for stories. I knew she'd be a total bookworm if she could just get started, so Harry Potter was what did the trick.

She's very sensitive, though, so I was a little concerned about that. She's on the 4th one now, though, and the girls at school have told her all about who dies and who ends up with who and lots of other spoilers, which might drive me crazy, but seems to help her feel comfortable with it all and part of the crowd, too. Once dd1 got started reading them, I did go ahead and read them all myself so I knew what she was getting into (I got totally sucked in, too).

Now, they're a little beyond dd2's (7) reading comfort level although she can read them and has started #1, but since they were eager to see the movie for #1 we started doing them as a family read aloud, so they could see the movie. We're on #3 now and they've been fine with it all and with the movies for #1 and #2. I didn't want dd2 to be freaked out and thought knowing the story she'd be okay with the movies. Movies tend to be scarier for my kids.

Dd1 is completely enamored of all things Harry Potter now so I'm really glad we waited. Dd2 likes it, but she's not ga-ga over it like dd1 and I think dd1 is just at the right age/stage for it. I think if I'd jumped the gun with her and read them to her earlier it wouldn't have been as special to her. It's her thing now and the kids at school are really into it, too. I think she really wishes she went to Hogwarts instead!

So, IME, waiting until the kid is ready to read it themselves is a good way to to decide when is the right age.

[beanma]

Limabean, if it helps, I think the first three books are about the same level of scariness although the 3rd book does introduce a darker undertone. Harry's parents are already dead when we start the first book and although there is scary stuff, the only deaths are the bad guys/Voldemort(?).

4 is where it really has a key change and some scarier stuff happens. Here's a spoiler for you...read at your own discretion. It gives away the ending of the 4th book. Highlight between the arrows to read --> A kid dies in the end of the 4th book.<--

Now my dds know all about this 'cause the kids at school have told 'em everything, but they like the spoilers so good for them. It helps them to know what's going to happen. I definitely wouldn't have read HP4 to dd1 at age 6 and I'm not sure I'm comfortable reading it to dd2. We may just stop the read alouds with book 3 unless they beg for book 4. Dd1 is welcome to read the whole series if she wants, but I've told her that it will be okay to set them aside and give them a break if she wants to also. I'm hoping to get her into some other book series, too. We'll see...the pull of HP is pretty strong...

[limabean]

Thank you, beanma -- your posts are really helpful. Our agreement for now is 1 book per year, so he'll be 9 by the time we start the 4th book if we keep this pace. 

[TEAK's Mom]

Beanma, I totally hear you about spoilers sometimes being a good thing. Dd2 can handle so much more if she has some spoilers. (Mind you, we are not pushing her to handle more mature content. She does this herself--she's one driven kid. The problem is that her drive can exceed her comfort zone.)

[Surfer Rosa]

E is 5.5 and we started reading HP a few months ago (we're on the second book now). She loooooves them, though she is not really freaked out by the "darker" aspects of the series.

[Cinder]

Janelle read the first book at 6, she has read the first 4 books now, she is 8 1/2, I won't let her read the last 3 yet...she's just not ready to handle everything that happens in them. 

I don't let her see a movie until she's read the book.

[MJB]

We do limit what our children read/watch, but we're pretty liberal about it. My 8 and 5 yr. olds have read the first book and seen all but the newest movie (which we will probably go see soon, we wanted to watch them all in order and only watch one movie a week so it's taken a while!) 

My 5 yr. old does find the movies scary but still likes them and hasn't had nightmares or anything. My 8 yr. old can easily handle them.

[kythe]

I was just re-reading the 7th Harry Potter book when I decided to take a break, and came across this thread. :)  The HP series are some of my favorite books, but I've never really considered them "childrens" books.

The HP series is really a coming of age story.  THe first couple of books can stand alone, but the series matures quickly.  According to the AR standards commonly used to measure reading level in US schools, the books range from 4-8th grade levels as the series progresses.  I tend to think that due to the maturity of the second half of the series, kids get the most out of it at an age where they can read it independently.  This is also the age range it is marketed to.

My dd first got into Harry Potter through the movies, which she was introduced to around 8 years old.  This wasn't my choice since I really like to read books before seeing the movies, but Harry Potter is so immensely popular it is hard to avoid.  Dd is 10 now and has just finished the 4th book, Goblet of Fire.  I think she will probably finish reading the series by the time she is 11.