To say no to the 6th Harry Potter book...

[TabbyTigger]

DD is 5. She’s just finished the first five Harry Potter books and, obviously, now wants to move onto the 6th. However from what I and other DCs remember, this one has more mature themes (romance/more detailed deaths) and is generally more complex. AIBU to ask her to wait a year or so before reading it or should I let her try and see how she does?

What a mean thread. I was reading at three and reading all of Enid blyton’s Famous Five and so on by four.

I now am a lecturer in English lit at a prestigious university. Some people are exceptional in some areas. I’m shit at maths if that makes it better? Had to have extra tuition and everything.
The Op’s kid is no different from an exceptional gymnast at that age: in the top 0.1, or even 0.01% of the population for that activity. But I think if her D.C. were doing backflips this thread would be a lot less unpleasant.

My dd read the first two HPs at five, the next two at six and is currently re-reading number four so we can watch number five.

We watch the films first and don't watch the next one until she has read the corresponding book.

At seven, she's put the fourth one aside a few times even though she knows it ends well - what's actually happening is a bit too intense. That didn't happen when she was younger.

So yes I'd agree that a five year old is getting something different from a book to an older child. But what's wrong with that? The books don't combust once they've been read - I used to read favourite books over and over and over.

When I was 5 I had a reading age of 13 (my mum decided I was a 'gifted child' and sent me for loads of bullshit tests) and read voraciously. However looking back - and re-reading many of the books I read early again - I realised that there were large swathes of them that I hadn't understood. I just didn't have the experience or perspective at that age to get the themes or couldn't relate emotionally to have a true understanding.

(And no, I wasn't a gifted child, just a bit quick off the mark. Everyone else caught up and overtook me by the time I went to secondary school )

Wow. My 7yo gave up on first Harry Potter. She is v advanced.
How about you read it to her so you can discuss any themes as they come up?

Tbh I think the fourth one is maybe a bit too dark for that age. And certainly the last two are so you are going to need to stop then anyhow.

Carbonel books are lovely if you can track them down.

I know you’ve said it’s not rocket science but that’s not the norm for reception aged children.
Does she attend private school?

Full disclosure - I started to read the thread and then realised that there were loads of snitty and sarky comments reading ability and pushy parents so have skipped without reading to the end to reply to the actual question.

OP - my fourth child was OBSESSED with Harry Potter and read them all when he was 5/6 - some of the time he read them himself and sometimes I read to him and he asked questions. He didn't understand all of it but loved them and took what he could from them - he's now just turned 8 and has started reading them again, and I would imagine that he will take different things from them this time around.

(As an aside, he was so obsessed with the books that he was convinced that on his 11th birthday he was going to get his letter. For his 7th birthday, my eldest son bought him a letter off Amazon, written in green ink and addressed to him with the uniform etc saying that he was such a prodigy they were going to take him immediately. He was SO excited, went around packing a suitcase and said we had to go to London so we could go to Diagon Alley and buy all of his stuff. He then solemnly told his teacher that he wasn't going to bother with stuff at school any more because he was going to Hogwarts and it all got a bit out of hand.....I HATED having to tell him that it wasn't actually a real letter.....)

Lots of school librarians use Accelerated Reader's Bookfinder tool to assess reading level and age appropriateness. See www.arbookfind.co.uk/default.aspx
Most HP books reading ability level is seen as that of an average Year 7 child. At least 3 of them, however, have been graded as being subject/ content appropriate for 14 years and over.

Is this an actual question or are you just wanting to share how wonderful your five-year-old reading skills are?

@Nagsnovalballs Shit at maths here too, but words, spellings, grammar and so forth always stuck so easily. I was reading way past my peers in primary school too, but I'm not particularly brainy! I do love reading still which is a nice thing.

Some people just pick some things up quickly, other things less quickly.

I wouldn’t take the AR bookfinder as a reliable tool. It does totally mental things to Reading ages and occasionally to content ages.

I think there's a big difference between mechanical reading and reading with actual emotional understanding. I could read a whole book in French, but I wouldn't understand much of it and wouldn't really get much out of the experience. I'd probably suggest she try something more age appropriate - not because she's unable to technically read many of the words, but because she's missing out on actually understanding the nuance and the magic of storytelling. My worry would be at some point she loses the love of it because she's reading things that won't engage her imagination and reading becomes this mechanical task rather than something immersive.

Also I read Harry Potter when I was 12, almost the same age as Harry Potter when the books started. I wouldn't trade that experience for anything. Reading it for the first time is such a magical experience; I'd be sad to have it spoiled by only understanding some of it. You don't get that first-time reading experience back.

@Ican'tcopeanymore

I've read your remarks and the responses. I wasn't sure if you are aware of how you sound.

However. The "if you put in good effort...etc." was rude and snobbish.

Children's brains develop differently, something someone with YOUR big brain should know.

My ds was said to have a verbal iq of 14 at age 8 but was considered severely dyslexic bc of the difference btwn his reading age, etc. His reading skills had nothing to do with my "effort."

I read to both of my dc from very early; if they could sit and listen, they had books read to them. Not only children's fiction books but poetry, nonfiction. Anything they were interested in or I thought would be good.

Yet, learned friend, NOTHING would have prevented his dyslexia except different genes. Turns out, me, gifted reader and dh, graduate degree engineer are also both dyslexic.

Dd isn't but fell quite far behind in maths bc my mother passed away at the same time her eyes went bad. If my poorly sighted mother had lived, she would have recognized the signs and also (in case anyone else is a not familiar with poor eyesight and dc) known that dc who are growing can need more than one new prescription of glasses/school year. Her eyes went from perfect to poor to awful quickly.

But my point is, Cope, its not that parents are uncaring or ignore their dc, teaching them to read is a part of life skills taught. And physical things like dyslexia or poor eyesight can interrupt the progress.

Being kind isn't expensive, its part of being in a community. This community is about advice on raising children. People will listen better if you don't condescend to us.

( before I'm excoriated for failing our dd and her eyes, I was grieving my mother's unexpected passing. But dh is also shortsighted, so i thought he understood more than i did and the eye Drs were awful. The first one told us she "just wants to be like so and so, who just got glasses." Her teacher said she was "trying for attention" "simply not good at math, excuse, etc."

SHE COULDN'T SEE THE BOARD!

I finally found an optometrist who explained all. (Obviously before Google)
This will always be a regret to me as her life would have been much better ages 8,9,10 if I knew then...)
☆this last bit is my psa in case any good sighted parents have poorly sighted dc. I'm so ashamed that i dropped the ball.)

Please do not associate early reading with overall intelligence and do not give early good readers books that the words can be read but content(including emotionally) not understood, or is age inappropriate.

Good for OP to at least stop and ask. I hate death. I only read happy ends. My life has had too many unhappy days to waste free time being sad bc of a book or movie.

But why shouldn’t you give early readers books they might not understand on the same level as they would an older child or adult? The beauty of a good book is that it can be read on different levels. It’s the reason you can plan a challenging unit of work on a book for a ks1 class and an equally challenging unit on the same book for upper KS2.

If the OP’s child is racing through the books and asking for the next one, then she’s obviously getting something out of it and isn’t particularly disturbed by it so far.

I started the thread to assert whether it was unfair of me to stop DD reading the next Harry Potter book until she’s a bit older. I’ve concluded IANBU. I don’t see how that’s “boastful”.

She’s also a very good gymnast for her age - if I’d started a thread asking if she should cut down her hours of gymnastics would that also have been boasting?

I have rtft but can’t be arsed to rise to the sniping, didn’t sleep that well last night.

TabbyTiger - I agree with leaving the last couple of HP books until your DD is 7-8. The themes are darker and more adult, as the children age. She’ll likely enjoy them whether she reads them now or later but you may have to start having difficult conversations sooner than you would like.

DS1 was reading at a similar level at a similar age. I spent ages looking for books with enough in the series to keep him going while I found the next one! May I suggest Ursula Le Guin, Diana Wynne Jones (especially the Chrestomanci books), Diane Duane (So You Want To Be A Wizard series) in case you hadn’t already found them.

He’s now 12 and has re read the HP books (including the last two) a few times. From various conversations, he definitely understood enough of the main themes to appreciate them the first time round, without it spoiling his enjoyment of a deeper understanding on subsequent reads.

Erm, @abbylee I'm aware of all that. I'm a teacher. I was being a twat to someone who was being a twat to me. I'm very much aware of child development, seeing as it's my job.

Ok. I’ll make sure never to talk about my kids achievements then incase i offend someone and get accused of “boasting”.

There is a difference between being (rightly) proud and pleased with your child's achievement and pretending it's 'nothing special/unusual'.

I think where OP might have rubbed some people up the wrong way is where she repeatedly says there is nothing special about her DD's reading ability, when clearly she is well above average in this area.

I think it's WONDERFUL when children find something they love and excel at - there's too much 'tall poppy' syndrome around - but call a spade a spade!

My 6 year old has read the first 4 but we are holding off on the later books for now. Shes not a genius or the child of a pushy parent. She just loves to read. As a result she is also fantastic at spelling. She was an early reader because she did Jolly phonics alongside her older brother from being about 2 and was eager to understand instructions on mine craft so pretty much taught herself. Her comprehension is good but she does miss certain subtleties in books which I'm sure she will pick up when she rereads at a later date.

This is how I feel - I was reading Shakespeare at 7. I’m sure I didn’t understand 20% of what i understand now, but I learnt some new words and enjoyed it and decided I wanted to be like Beatrice

I like the Harry Potter books, I’m a big fan, but I do find them a bit clunky to read word for word. I’m sure there are better books for them.

Try the Roald Dahl collection, they are fun and worth reading.

@TabbyTigger I probably wouldn't let her read the 6th book but that's because it has the word slut in it

I don't understand why people keep saying the books will be wasted on her. I've read the Harry Potter books a few times since I was a child and each time I have got something different out of it. Surely at 5 she won't pick up on the complex relationships or understand a lot of the themes but who cares. She's 5. She can always read them again.

As for carrying on with the 6th book at nearly 6 years old- I would be more concerned about the number of characters that start to die and whether your daughter understands death enough for it not to be too scary.

If you wouldn't let them watch the film- and I assume nobody would think the later films are OK for a 5 year old-then don't let them read the books.