How old were your DC when they read / watched Harry Potter?

[StuckInPollyannaMode]

DDs are 7, and I'm coming under a fair amount of pressure for them to read and watch at least the first book and film. Many of their classmates have watched the first three films.

Should I cave and let them read / watch it? The first one at least.

They are aimed at the 9-12 year old group. There are so many great reads for 5-8 years that I can't see the point of pushing my DC to read books that really aren't written for their age and stage.

14, and hasn't watched any all the way through or read the books, just not interested. He was reading similar level fantasy books at 9, he prefers high fantasy though. He was watching other 12 rated films like the Marvel films from age 8.

Yes, I am getting the pressure too. DS is 6. But I think he is too young to understand some of the themes. IMO the issue is parents loving the books so much that they want to share them as quickly as possible ...

My kids were "free readers" in yr1 and read the first 3 HPs then. I probably suggested they waited until they were older to progress to the thicker, later books.

They probably didn't understand all of it, the first time round, that didn't matter because they were keen readers and would frequently return to re-read their favourites.

Kids are now late teens and they now recount to me how they read books whilst in primary school that they subsequently thought I ought not to have allowed - I was quite trusting and they were relatively free to read what they wanted (no Stephen King for many years, and I would still discourage "Girl with the dragon tattoo" for lots of reasons!)

They didn't watch any of the HP films until yr 5 or maybe yr6, a lot later than reading the books.

Depends on the kid. My dd was an advanced reader so she started the books at 5.

Our rule was you have to read the book before watching each movie.

I don't think it's about being an advanced reader. And I don't understand about reading the book before the movie.

I decided not to read HP til I read them with the kids. Started with the eldest about a year ago. She's finished them all (at 8) but in terms of me reading to her we are still on Order of the everlasting phoenix. Started reading with her little bro, watching each movie when he finished the book and we are stopping at the end of prisoner of Azkaban. I think the later films might be too scary for him, judging from what adults have told me, he ended up wanting to have them as bedtime stories because his sister did. (He's nearly 7).

Dd was 6 when she started reading them. Adored them straight away and is still a massive fan age nearly 15. I did make her have a bit of a pause after book 3, but not for very long - she was probably 8 whenshe read the rest. There wasn't much she didn't understand- I'm a big fan too and she used to discuss them a lot with me (still does!).

@SarahAndQuack

I don't think it's about being an advanced reader. And I don't understand about reading the book before the movie.

In my opinion HP is a book series, not a movie one. I hardly ever watch movies or TV series made from books because so far most of them are a disappointment.

I only watched the HP movies together with DD, I never was interested in them on my own.

For me a book is a discovery in imagination. You imagine the characters, you jump into the story in a way you can't do it with the movie.

Also, the more complex the book the less is there in the movie to make it work. You will loose small things or even larger portions.

DD's friend loves Harry Potter but she was ok with just watching the movies, I think she never read the last three books. Too big, too complex, too much. I saw the film, why should I care about the book.

And this attitude is way it is book first, movie later.

Do you think maybe if you watched more movies, you would appreciate them more?

I struggled hugely with movies when I was younger, because I had never been exposed to them. I couldn't follow the plots or understand any of the subtler points. It was a real disadvantage. I had to learn very slowly, as an adult, and I'm still way behind.

Imagination certainly does work differently in different media, I agree. But to me, using just one kind of imagination is like saying you want to exercise only one muscle group.

There are all sorts of complexities in movies that can't exist in books (and that's fine). There are all sorts of complexities in books that can't exist in movies.

This sort of attitude is why so many students struggle with Shakespeare, IMO. They are rigidly convinced that text on the page is the most important, rich, canonical form of communication, and so they do not understand that performances can also be valuable and important.

I don't want to compare HP to Shakespeare, obviously. But I would say that a good film of a mediocre book can be much, much better than the original, and we shouldn't be so hide-bound about saying so.

To give examples - when I read the first HP book, in my early teens, I loved the character sketches of Aunt Petunia and Uncle Vernon. I don't think the film ever got anywhere close to those, because the whole point was the way JKR's descriptions managed to sound breathlessly Daily Mail Sadface Story, so you knew you were hearing about a newspaper cliche.

OTOH, the book isn't a patch on the scene with the animated chess pieces. JKR does her best, but she never gives the sense of real danger that's in the film version, and nothing beats the impassive faces of the giant chess pieces there.

It's swings and roundabouts. But I do think it is a huge shame to make out that a child should be required to like one type of story first.

I probably read the first harry potter book when the dc were around 5 and 7 - the first three books are pretty mild. Dd2 is 7 now and she's had the first four books read to her, seen the first four films and she has read the first book to herself. Dd1 (9yo) has read all of them.

DD started reading them late last year at 9 (hadn't been interested before then) and has watched all the films. Her younger brother is 7 and has watched a large portion of most of the film's and been okay.

My oldest was 6 when the first book came out, we read it together.. because the later books were two years apart he literally grew up being able to read the next book as he got older. Younger DC could watch up to film three but had to read the subsequent books before they could watch the films

My oldest two were 13 and 9 when they read the first couple of books then they lost interest. My youngest wasn't interested in them at all until she was 15 when she binged the books and films over a month or so.

DS is 6, I have read the first 4 books to him - had resolved not to go beyond book 3 until he is several years older but he was enthralled, and he begged and begged. And he was OK with Goblet of Fire, though as a previous poster said, he has encountered family bereavement which may have a bearing on his ability to process the death of a character and the emotions recounted in the book.

I am sticking to the line on books 5-7. The themes are darker and he also wouldn't relate to the teenage characters' emotions. He was glazing over and making "yuck, soppy" protests during the bits about Harry's crush on Cho Chang in book 4.

Film wise he has watched the first one. I would allow the second but he's chosen not to watch it because it might not be how he imagined the book characters and events. Not offering films 3 or later until he is quite a bit older. I think the films are scarier than the books because with a book, the child partly shapes the way they see it in their mind's eye whereas there's nowhere to hide with a film.

He has the vocabulary and understanding for the early books, he can retell the stories and he is making up side adventures and playing imaginary games with the characters. He is years and years off reading them for himself but I think it would be really restrictive for kids to only have books at their own reading level.

I also agree with the previous poster who said it doesn't matter if a child doesn't grasp all the themes or nuances or plot points first time round. I say that as someone who was a very precocious reader as a young child. I didn't always have the emotional maturity to see/understand all the themes of books at my reading level but I was allowed to read them anyway and I "got" them at the level of someone my age and emotional maturity. If I circled back to them as old favourites a few years later, I'd see new layers and enjoy that new awareness. I see that as a positive thing and a good habit to learn, to know you can get enjoyment out of revisiting a good book with fresh eyes and perspectives.

Wow, some really interesting viewpoints. Thank you.

I’m also a book first, film after person, and that’s my intention. I didn’t even read the books myself til I was well into my 20s. I also want to space them out and will limit them to the first three.

When I say under pressure (there are children in their class who have seen all the films and been to Harry Potter World or whatever it’s called) I have had friends of theirs ask me if they can put it on at ours and then, last weekend, whilst on a walk, whether the DDs could come back to theirs and watch it, which obviously they wanted to do.

Selfishly I want to see their enjoyment of it and don’t want someone else to nip in first! I think the first film is pretty magical, not so fond of the second, love the third. Haven’t see the rest of them, but I’ve read all the books. It’s not a case of me pushing it on them.

We listened it to in the car when they were about 5 and 7. I think my son was about 7-8 when he watched the films. He's now reading the books at 9.

@SarahAndQuack
I do watch movies, I am not the biggest movie or TV watcher but I do enjoy well made ones. When I grew up we hardly went to the cinemas and movies on TV were normally old style Fifties Hollywood ones, i still see them as more enjoyable then a book adaptation.

I personally just think making a movie from a book is difficult and so far I have come across just 1 book where I enjoyed the movie more, The English Patient, around 25 years ago,

No, movie can show the whole storyline, there are changes and cuts. The BBC series of Pride and Prejudice came close because they used 4x 90 minutes, the later “normal” movie length has serious faults about the characters and storyline,

Can a movie dramatise scenes? Yes, obviously with a good director and budget, Can it help a person understanding a book more, yes if a reluctant reader then dives into the books the movie achieved a purpose.

I don’t think you can compare Shakespeare. He wrote plays, they are not designed to be read like a book, they are designed to be watched on stage. Reading Richard III can be very boring without the visual.

DD read Cursed Child and didn’t enjoy it but again, this is written as a screen play, not as a novel.

I read the books as an adult when they were published. I watched the films on DVD at home with a gap of at least a couple of years since reading the books (and more than 10 for the earliest books). I enjoyed the films to pass an evening, and thought they were "good" as adaptations go. This year, though, when I rewatched the first film with DS it was only weeks after rereading the book to him so book Potter was fresh in my mind. The proximity meant I was noticing the book scenes that were cut and the little story changes to make the movie work in the time it has. Not in a "hate it" way, but noticing. It changed the experience of watching the film a bit that I was noticing and comparing rather than straightforwardly watching the film for itself.
DS won't watch the next movie because he already has his imaginary world of the books and doesn't think he'd enjoy the film as much. He won't watch Paddington either! - same reason. Something to look out for I guess.