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?

My first thought was Are you Mental?!
then I read all the other replies & saw most everyone else had beat me to it.

I've read it (think we did it at school - can't remember what age though), but not shared it with the kids yet :)

I read Anne of Green Gables to ds1, and we really enjoyed that. A lot of the I, Robot stories by Isaac Asimov are fun to read to kids and some really interesting discussions can come out of them regarding what makes people human and the laws of robotics, etc.

I think you should just read what you both enjoy - I leave the books I can't stand but they're obsessed with for their own independent reading (I really appreciate the Beast Quest series for getting ds2 excited about independent reading, but I can't read past a page without wanting to snore).

I genuinely don't get why everyone thinks it's not a good idea?

Try Mrs Frisby and the Rats of Nihm for a chidlren's book with a social conciousness.
Or Terry Pratchett's children's books.

Anything except trying to read Orwell to a 7yo as bedtime reading.

I honestly havent read it. I dont know why , just never got round to it. Is it a good read ? You know for an adult

Why don't you read a good age appropriate book instead. Tbh I think she'll be bored rigid by it

I read it not much older and loved it - go for it - kids don't always have to read 'kids' books and it is a classic!

Well, it can be read on more than one level - the face value story about animals, and the 'communism is bad' sub-text.

A 7 year old isn't likely to pick up the allegorical meaning by himself. But even on the simplest level, it's not exactly a cheery story. That'd be my main problem with it, personally.

I don't get it either, moules. I think it's one of Orwell's more accessible reads for children - as someone said upthread it's even been made an animated film for kids.

Watership Down - I weeped for WEEKS after reading that as a kid. And Harry Potter, ffs - look at the amount of death and destruction in those! Kids are hardier than we think and I think fiction can be a great way to open up and talk about things we're afraid of/deeper issues.

The great thing about sharing a book like that TOGETHER is that you can talk about it as you go and also have a better idea of whether they're losing interest/it's scaring them. Also, the nice thing about written fiction rather than visual film is that you're reliant on your imagination in the scary bits which if you're a bit too young to visualise that scene then you don't really get the full impact of fright, unlike a film which is harder to gauge.

(I am possibly biased as at the age of 10 I was reading all of my dad's Alistair McClains, James Bonds and Readers' Digest condensed fiction books - now some of THAT content was rather more mature than they'd probably have been comfortable with me knowing about )

The only books I'd hesitate sharing with the dses is that of a paranormal theme. The only book ds1 EVER had nightmares about was a book aimed at 10 year olds about ghosts and vampires.

Maybe Famous Five might be a decent stopgap before you read Books with a Communist Sub Plot.

I hated Mrs Frisby and the Rats of Nihm.

Shame really, as we were forced to spend weeks and weeks on it at school.

But I have a dread of rats and have problems with stories or films portraying them as lovable.

Animal Farm - I struggled to understand the concept of that book at 17 (& i'm not stupid.. honestly). Plus it's depressing!
7 is really really young.... can he not get to read something for his age group with a happy ending?? Please?

I wouldn't read it to a 7 yr old purely because they won't get it. OK it is a nice story about animals but the real story would go over their heads - it is too political really. It would be a shame to read it now and then put them off reading it in the future when they do get it.

What sort of thing does he enjoy?

Mine are into Percy Jackson at the moment. Not a bad read for an adult either but that is secondary really. It is about their choice. That said I have avoided Winnie the Pooh, Beatrix Potter and all that sort of stuff like the plague so I can't talk.

And as for reading to a 7 year old, why not?! I still read to my 8 yr old and the very nearly 12 yr old although not every night to him. It is nice to share, it is encouraged by a lot of those who know about these things (children's laureates and all that). Both of my two have reading ages well above their real ages. DS1 and I recently ploughed through The Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy together. Perhaps a bit beyond an 11 yr old in content without me to explain some things. He was perfectly capable of reading the whole thing himself but the nuances would be lost.

Crikey it is just nice to get them off the computer and be able to spend time doing something that we can all enjoy together. When do the reading police reckon I should have stopped then? Just when they can read and understand something of the world and their book choices actually get interesting? That would mean missing out on the best bits of childrens's books imo.

Regarding happy endings. Not all kids books have happy endings. As I say, lots to cry about in Harry Potter. Hell, we got given a book when ds2 was nursery age called My Friend Whale which has the whale killed by whalers at the end of it, ffs! (okay, they probably went a bit far, with that book ).

I think you're not giving kids enough credit - they can cope with sad endings and dystopian worlds better than you think they can.

Can't believe there are 'parents' who believe that because a child can read they shouldn't be read to :( its a wonderful parent/child interacting and bonding time. Shows the child the parent has time for 1:1 love. Do these 'parents' also stop playing with kids once the child can hold a toy, or don't play football as soon as the toddler can kick a ball by themselves?!

It's not like children need to know they are loved, cared about or wanted is it.... [Hmm]

just got back from reading ( hour later here in holland) it's really only just started , the animals all coming into the barn for majors speach, but i asked him what he thinks so far , he said he likes it. so i'll stick with it for now.

as for the sad parts of the plot, yes my hart go's out to boxer but i dont remember crying, unlike when hazel dies in watership down!

Yeah but there's a book without a happy ending and there's a book where to a child for no reason the pigs win!

Obviously if you understand the allegory it's just plain depressing not sad. My concern would mainly be there isn't really a point to Animal Farm if you don't understand the Communism reference. Either way the story is bitter irony, at least when you're older it's a bitter irony with a point.

I'd try it and see how it goes. He'll never get the parallels with the Russian Revolution but may get an idea about the moral of the story. The book is fine but I definitely wouldn't show him the cartoon version as it is creepy and the animals often look quite hideous and ugly. The 'Babe' style film version is quite good though!
I bet he'd love all the other books the others have recommended too but he may love this just as much. Try it and if he switches off, let him pick something else .

Ugh. You went with it.

Agreed re: irony lurking but he doesn't have to get the irony. The main moral imo is that power can turn people, even those with the best of intentions, into monsters.

The whole Boxer story [never mind the rest] is far too much for a seven year old.It is a deep,dark book not a child's story about clever pigs.Work your way through the canon of children's literature before you embark on Orwell's political manifesto.

Well I'm hypocritical I guess because of what I was reading at seven..Just seems unecessarily grim for a bed time story. I guess I don't understand why seven year olds need to be informed via a story about the moral corruption that accompanies power. Just doesn't sit right with me.

But Chairman You know your kid, you know what's best. :)

That's what I was thinking too thegreylady It's not exactly like Boxer is vindicated afterwards, is it?

I just think the following conversation where a seven year gets told people can be horrible and destroy others for their own gain (before bed) seems like a useless endeavour.

if he doesnt like it after a while i'll let him pick something else

he does know about lenin and the tsars and stuff, i've talked to him about that.

I read it at 9 but there's quite a difference between that and 7and even then I don't think I'd give it to my 9 yo. It's a great book but I'd leave it for a while. There's no hurry.