What age for reading Harry Potter to?

[Anjelika]

Hi

My DS is 7 and a good reader. He reads the Beast Quest books for himself but I would like to read some longer books to him and was thinking about Harry Potter (which I've never read). I would rather wait though if they're too old for him. I read David Walliams' Billionaire Boy to him a few months back but really wish I'd left it till he was older as the funny bits went over his head a bit. If you think 7 is a bit young for HP, are there any other books you'd recommend that I could read to my son?

[TakeMeUpTheNorthMountain]

We started at. My son is a fab reader but we like the ritual of reading a story to him so did a chapter a night. I read to him which helped me gloss over gory bits.

We love it. The awed silence from him last night when yes reached a chapter in book5 blew my mind!

[Bramshott]

I think 7 is perfect (DD2 is 7). The earlier books are fairly light, and it will take you ages to get to the later ones as the chapters are loooonnnnggg....

[Anjelika]

I have read a fair few Roald Dahls to him and he liked them. I will look out for Oliver and the earwigs. Think I might leave HP until he's at least 8.

[42notTrendy]

I would say the first two are fine for that age. The third one, maybe in a year or two. The rest I'd leave longer. It's so hard, my DS is a good reader, and would cope reading them, but it's the content. Have you tried the How to train your dragon books, or the Tom Gates books?

[BestIsWest]

DH started with DD at 6. He read them all to her. She was 16 when the last one came out and still insisted that he read it to her.

[Maria33]

I'm reading the entire series to ds (12) and dd (9). They have loved it. DD (9) is an avid reader and read ahead and finished the series. DS (12), a less avid reader, has enjoyed having them read to him.

I've got really into it and discovered a startling range of silly voices for all the different characters.

[Maria33]

I second the How to Train your Dragon, also Spiderwick, Lemony Snickett, E Nesbit is old fashioned but brilliant. Little House on the Prairie also v good, Pippi Lonstocking and the Moomins.

[Showy]

7yo dd is a fairly precocious reader and has read the first four. But her Y2 teacher has read the first one to the class this term..

[trinitybleu]

DD started listening to the audio books at 5 and loved them. She's planning to read book 1 over the summer (now 7)

[Anjelika]

Thanks for all the suggestions. Think I might try the first book and see how that goes now.

[BlueChampagne]

The Worst Witch is in a similar vein if you want to hold off a bit.

[gingercat12]

In terms of Harry Potter we read books 1 to 3. He loved them all. I am not sure he quite understood Dementors / Depression, so he did not find The Prisoner of Azkaban too scary, but book 4 would be too much, just yet.
We are on book 6 of How to Train Your Dragon, which 6-year-old DS loves. He likes Pippi Longstocking as well. DH reads him Horrid Henry, Famous Five, Secret Seven.
We are about to start Skills from Brazil by Dan Freedman tonight. I'll report back if it is any good in case your DS likes football.

[holmessweetholmes]

It depends very much on the child. Dd had read them all herself by age 8. There are bits in the later books which could potentially upset or go over the heads of some young children though.

[Pinkshoes8]

Hi, my son is 5 he has been reading chapter books for about 6 months. His school teacher recommended the harry potter books as some of the words are obscure and would help with him braking up complex words. He read the first book over a week. He did struggle with some words but all in all he managed well with plot of the book.

[JaneGarveykeepsmesane]

Should I be worried that my DD who has just finished reception class is only reading Topsy & Tim and similar first readers on her own? I'm getting worried that some 7yo kids are able to read HP on their own while I'm struggling to
get her to read anything independently. Help!

[Atthebottomofthegarden]

Jane, don't worry about it at all. The level you describe sounds very typical for one year in school. Abilities vary massively at this age - blending words is a "click" thing that will suddenly happen, and until it does, not much progress is made. I suspect the children discussed here are well ahead of their peers

If you want to see typical levels, take a look at Reading Chest which gives examples of reading bands and the typical ages they are achieved. There is a very broad range.

[CeliaBowen]

I'm sure I read somewhere that JJKR wrote the books with the target audience in mind the same age as the characters (i.e. Harry, Ron and Hermione). So that would mean she intended the first book for children of about 12, and so on, at a book a year.

I know people do let younger DC read them, but I am holding off for DD1 who is almost 6. We are on Enid Blyton at the moment!

[atticusclaw]

There's a big difference between having them read to them and reading them for themselves.

Ds2 is just seven and we are onto number 4. We will then wait a bit before the others. We've only just let ds1 (9) read six and seven.

Ds2 loves the stories and the way they're written and even though he might be coming across new vocabulary, hearing it in context is good for him. We've also read him the hobbit and the weirdstone of brisingamen, both of which are wordy and both of which he loved and understood.

We have a rule in this house too that you can't watch the HP movies until you've read the book (and for the later ones until you're 12).

[atticusclaw]

I'd hold off lemony snickett. We started them but Ds2 found them quite scary. They are pretty dark.