to not let my DC read Harry Potter

[Heathofhares]

and the Order of the Phoenix? She is 8 and quite immature. She has just discovered Harry Potter and is desperate to read them all. I am worried that the last few books are too scary and have very complex themes that she will be upset by (She didn't manage to watch Frozen until she was 7 and still thinks Moana is too scary...)

She is adamant that IABU not to give her all the books and let her see all the films. Who is right here?

( I didn’t realise someone else had already mentioned sound of music! So maybe it is scary. But my DS really can’t cope with anything slightly tense in films!)

My daughter has read all the books, she's 8 now, and she enjoyed them and is a huge fan of the franchise. She doesn't like scary or things that make her cringe in movies (we recently turned off turning red, lol) so she's seen upto the goblet of fire and we will watch the others when she's older. It does come down to the individual child really, but some of the books she's brought home from school have much worse themes than HP.

@ThatPosterIsSoRight

( I didn’t realise someone else had already mentioned sound of music! So maybe it is scary. But my DS really can’t cope with anything slightly tense in films!)

It's all very personal and not linear. DS doesn't like mild peril and would find the earlier HP films easier than the later films because he prefers more direct action. I once let him watch Hot Fuzz; I knew when to cover his eyes for blood, and he absolutely loved it... except for the scene where the peace lily is smashed on the trolley boy's head and he sobbed "he loved that plant!" His autistic sense of empathy sometimes does kick in at odd angles, but he was quickly reassured that peace lillies are hardy houseplants and can be repotted with no lasting harm

He claims to hate Harry Potter, but we've been listening to audio books in recent months for DS2 (8) and has loitered while pretending not to listen and asked lots of questions. Due to dyslexia, neither of mine find reading wordy novels relaxing, so I read the illustrated versions, then switched to audio book and listened with them and would pause to ask or respond to questions. The audio books are far slower than reading so gives time to pace it.

With Harry Potter, I wouldn't hold an interested child back after GoF.

You could suggest alternating with another book in between each HP to build more time in rather than outright banning until a certain point.

She’s far too young. We are reading to our 10 year old and only just on finsl book. Not only see the themes too scary there a lot of the book she just won’t understand/appreciate. I think you started them too young, she should just wait.

I grew up with return to oz, so maybe im just hardcore

I absolutely loved them, but I think I’d hold off the later books until age 10, 11, 12 depending on your child’s personality.

Loads of other things to read aged 8 - Roald Dahl, Enid Blyton, E Nesbit. Have a look at children’s classics book threads on here.

I would argue that the end of Goblet of Fire is scarier than any of the Order of Phoenix!!!

I read all the books to DD from age 5- 7 and she watched each movie as we went along. She coped fine. Some bits probably went Iver her head but she loved them. We will probably reread them all again soon. She sometimes reads them to herself too

Shes now 8

I don't think you can be U really, it's up to you what your own DC read or not , HP isn't required reading.

At the same time I'd probably let her try it and stop for herself if she felt uncomfortable. I'd have thought most of the 'dark themes' would go over most children's heads as they skim through the text, but we are all different and that's fine.

As an aside OP there are a litany of HP spinoff books she could read, activity books, quidditch through the ages, fantastic beasts, tales of needle the bard, sticker books etc. Maybe waylay her with some of those until she seems ready for the next book.

If a child is eager to read a book I wouldn't stop them (well, there are books I wouldn't let them, but HP isn't one of them!).

My DD is 7 and we are reading the Harry Potter series together at bedtime. We are currently on Half Blood Prince. She is watching the films after finishing the books and all fine so far. She has two older brothers though so she had already been exposed to HP and was desperate to read them. I would suggest reading them with her if you're worried. I wouldn't say a flat no to a (children's) book she really wants to read... Reading it together will let you explain things as you go along.

Why don't you read along with her, and discuss things that come up as you go?

@SafelySoftly

She’s far too young. We are reading to our 10 year old and only just on finsl book. Not only see the themes too scary there a lot of the book she just won’t understand/appreciate. I think you started them too young, she should just wait.

All children are different.

Not all children are too young.

I think 7 is too young personally but I wouldn’t have started a series my child could then not finish. So now you have you should let her read it. But be prepared for a reread when she’s 9 and realises she doesn’t understand 90% of the themes. My DN is rereading Harry Potter now at 11 because her Mum forced her to read it all at 6 (so she could tell everyone how clever she was) and she was embarrassed at school when she realised she didn’t understand the story at all after the 3rd book.

The Prisoner of Azkaban is the scariest imho. Yes I under your thinking she is young.

The end of Goblet of Fire is the scariest bit in the whole series though.

If you're really worried read it to her and skip out the scary bits?

I read colour purple when I was that age and it wasn't a problem.

I happily read philosophers stone to my two year old (I'm an in recovery super fan) and just skipped over words like dead, kill, evil etc and other things I don't want her hearing and we had a whale of a time and now she says good night Harry Potter time before she goes to bed. Will I let her watch the films? No chance, not before she's about 10! Words are different to visuals!

I don’t think Order of the Phoenix is as bad as Goblet of Fire tbh.

My almost 8 year old isn't allowed past book/film 3. They get increasingly dark from book 4 and DD is sensitive and queries everything - so I will have to explain why the death eaters at the world cup are torturing and humiliating muggles, including a very young child (described as spinning like a top, it's head lolling from side to side), why they think that's funny, etc. I also know she's not going to understand all the elements of the plot - we're currently re-reading books 1-3, having also seen all of these films, and there's still stuff she doesn't get or hasn't remembered. I think it would be a waste to read the later books and only understand 50% of what's going on.

If she's already read GoF then she's had her first character murder. OotP is actually kind of a dull read; a long slog. It's #6 you need to worry about. Anyway, 5 might put her off reading any more til she's older.

Let her read it and if she gets to a point where she feels that she doesn’t like it or it’s too scary she can stop.

I found #2 and #4 scarier than #5.

But how good is she at self regulating? If she finds it scary will she stop or complete?
I'd agree that films are worse than words, so let her read, but say not the films yet maybe?

I would hate to think of a child who wanted to read a children's series not being allowed to. If she wants to read it I would let her, but I would tell her beforehand that it has dark and scary parts, and that she should feel comfortable asking you about anything she doesn't understand, and also make it clear to her that it's ok to stop and come back to it when she's a bit older if she's not enjoying it.

The films are a completely different matter. As a parent you absolutely should censor what your kids watch and only let them watch something potentially scary when you think they are old and mature enough to handle it. So certainly not at the age of 8.

Honestly I think it’s fine!
She’s obviously fab at reading to have got that far and I’d want to encourage that