opinions on reading 'animal farm' to a 7 year old

[thechairmanmeow]

i'm sure he wont get the full ethos of the book allthough i will try to explain it to him as we go, and it possibly has more to do with me being fed up with christopher robin discovering the north pole again. were on page 2, 3rd night reading now, about 15 minutes every night, seem to be ok so far, but i'm curious what the rest of you think?

[belindarose]

I think there are an awful lot of other books that should be read to a seven year old first. What made you choose that one?

[seeker]

Why would you do anything so daft?

You must have concerns or you wouldn't be asking.

[startwig1982]

I think it's a bit beyond a 7 year old, but if you're happy with not explaining the main concept, then it probably won't do much harm. I agree that there are lots of more suitable books you could read first!

[OutragedAtThePriceOfFreddos]

I had an animated film version of Animal Farm as a child. From what I can remember it was dumbed down a bit, but it still scared me shitless!

[Noqontrol]

I don't think it's a terrible book to read, but not really sure how much he would understand of it?

[RubberDuck]

I read Hunger Games to an 11 and 8 year old last month, so I say go for it As long as he enjoys it and is desperate to find out what happens next, you're doing alright, I reckon.

As long as he has the option to stop at any point if he finds it boring or scary. We don't have to finish books in this house ever if we don't want to, regardless of what any teacher might say. It's our house rule.

[fivegomadindorset]

There are so many other books out there rather than Animal Farm for him to read and understand.

[LadyBeagleEyes]

My ds did this for his Standard grades.
It will mean nothing to a seven year old, they'll take it at face value, what would be the point?

[squeakytoy]

you read to an 8 and 11 year old? surely they should be reading for themselves at that age?

[PatriciaHolm]

There's a huge world of literature out there between Christopher Robin and Animal Farm!

Why not move onto Roald Dahl, Michael Morpurgo, David Walliams?

[CharminglyOdd]

We had the audio book of Animal Farm and had seen the film at that age. It remains one of my favourite books (I didn't read it myself until much later). I read Anne Frank's diary aged ten as well... what I'm trying to say is it depends on the child and I don't think material that adults would view as dark is necessarily conveyed in entirety to a child's mind.

TBH I wouldn't bother explaining everything - that's the beauty of reading as a child and revisiting a book as you grow up. You can learn to love the book without understanding the undercurrents and parallels, then have the joy of discovering different nuances every time, at an age-appropriate moment. At seven I thought it was just a story (helped by the film being a cartoon).

[sesameflower]

good choice. Its a good book

[PatriciaHolm]

Squeaky - I still read at bedtimes to my 7.8 year old, who has a reading age of 10. She loves it, I like it, why not?

[seeker]

He needs to rad t for himself as a teenager. Don't spoil it.

Squewkytoy- that's such a sad post

[DilysPrice]

Dear heavens no.
Have you really read the whole of Roald Dahl, Noel Streatfield, Harry Potter, The Hobbit, A Series of Unfortunate Events, Stig of the Dump, Professor Branestawm, Percy Jackson,, Narnia, Diggers, Treasure Island.....?

There are thousands of books you could read to your 7 year old before you picked that one.

[thepeoplesprincess]

Great idea, and follow it up with a family viewing of Watership Down sat eve.

That should fuck the poor little sod up nicely for life.

[EverybodysSleepyEyed]

I think there are certain books that kids should be left to discover for themselves and that normally happens when they are ready for it. Animal farm is one of them.

[squeakytoy]

I just find it a bit odd. I loved reading as as a child, but by the age of 6/7 I preferred to go at my pace and read on my own. I cant see the benefit of a child who can read being read to but that is just my view.

[LurkingAndLearningForNow]

Ahh why? He'll take it at face value and it may frighten him. Doesn't exactly have a happy ending does it?

Why this book? Do you just want to be a pretentious parent saying 'ooh well I read Animal Farm to my amazingly gifted seven year old?'

[thechairmanmeow]

i suppose i'm asking because maybe i'm being a little selfish reading something that i can enjoy to, 'dinosaurs love underpants' is great but the 200ths time it looses it's charm.
my boy isnt deslexic like me and his reading ability for a 7 year old is brilliant, especialy when you consider his mother is dutch and he go's to a dutch school. still he reads english very well.

[lashingsofbingeinghere]

Charlotte"s Web is about a farm and much more suitable .

[ZZZenAgain]

I should think you'd find something you enjoy reading which is within the intellectual grasp of a 7 year old and not too disturbing. I do agree with you that a lot of books for dc are dreadful and very boring to read but there is something inbetween those books and Animal Farm.

[EverybodysSleepyEyed]

Well it ist about you. You are reading to him and should let him choose. You can always reject his first choice if you really can't bear it

[MrGrey]

Try some Roald Dahl, Dick King Smith or Gillian Cross.

I would recommend Find the White Horse and The Great Elephant Chase.

They are somewhere in between Christopher Robin and Animal Farm.

[LurkingAndLearningForNow]

It's not about you. I don't think any parent is particularly fascinated with the books they read their kids, they just enjoy the time with them.

Maybe if you can't enjoy reading to him just let him read on his own