to be seriously irritated that "reading Harry Potter" has...

[seeker]

...become a bench mark for good reading in younger children?

Yes, in order to decode Harry Potter you do have to be a very competent reader. But the themes and ideas in the books - particularly the later ones - are entirely inappropriate and largely incomprehensible for KS1 children, and anyway there is a world of better written, age appropriate for good readers of this age to get their teeth into without adding to grip Rowling has on childrens' fiction.

bruffin.... it was fantastic going considering i only learned to read at 8

also, i read it myself, completely of my own accord..... slightly differant to enforced reading in class. I remember staying up light and reading in the dark by sitting in my windowsill and using the light of the street lights. I damn near cried in terror during the mine section

I found it boring Tulip! I loved the Silver Sword we did at the same age though.

We did Silver Sword round that time too, and Goodnight Mr Tom, i did really get into both of them (and had them read within days of them being handed out and then read my own books under the table when they were being done in class.... drove my teachers mad!) but i did find both of them quite serious and depressing. I love the escapism of fantasy, still do these days and The Hobbit was my intro to that.

YANBU. Recently heard from the alpha mum I had the misfortune to get entangled with at NCT and she took great pleasure in letting me know her 6yo was reading HP. She is the pushiest of pushy parents, I bet it's been on her checklist of things he must achieve since birth. It's like a badge people wear to announce their child has a superior 'reading age' (hate that term).

There are thousands of books that are just much better for that age group. I'm not fashionably decrying HP - I love it - but there's plenty of time, and it wasn't written for or pitched at 6/7yos.

I think what's irritating isn't Harry Potter. Its the boasting.

"I am also fed up of the woman at an after school activity we go to who has a five year old who carries The Order of the Phoenix around all the time. Why you would need to make a point of having your kid read it while waiting for five mins before their class ?"

Well, my DS1 will take a book anywhere if he thinks he stands a chance of reading it for 2 seconds, never mind 5 minutes. It could be some huge weighty tome or it could be Horrid Henry (less likely now as he's 12!) And he's done it since he could read. Some kids just love reading. He even takes a book to read in the car when the journey might only last 5 minutes.

I wasn't aware it had beceom the benchmark. If so, yanbu.

Round here it is "reading Harry Potter at 7"...so if your 7 year old has not read it, then you have failed!

The "at 7" is stressed time and again by the parents.

I must admit I was once a bit wound up and out came the "what is your DD reading, mine read HP at 7..." and I replied. "I really much prefer Philip Pullman's style and I also feel the Susan Cooper "Dark is Rising" canon is more literary and enables DD to learn about the Arthurian legends and connect bcak to the Anglo-Saxon roots of England."

What a supreme bullshitter I am.

DD is reading the Famous Five and she loves them!

One day I hope she will read Susan Coooper and Philip Pullman, but that time is not yet here.

I think lots of children want to read Harry Potter because it's very famous and there are lots of films and toys of it, so they recognise all the characters. I think the early Harry Potter is great and I don't think the first couple of books are beyond many 6 or 7 year olds. I wouldn't particularly recommend the later ones to anyone - incredibly long and dull.

I feel Seeker has rather maligned Harry Potter, though, as this is just as true of many other books, including "His Dark Materials". When DS2 was in Y3 lots of boys were reading the Alex Rider books and they are no way appropriate for 7 and 8 year olds - the boy is practically a teenager and has romantic involvements. I'd much rather The Philosopher's Stone.

Have to say that I'm a huge HP fan! Though, in admitting that, I read the second book when it come out or shortly after (I was about 11/12 at the time) and as sad as this sounds, the books got me through high school.

BUT, it annoys me that people think it's the only freaking book out there, just as much as it annoys me that people think they know and understand the issues raised throughout the books because they watched the movies

Also, kids understand a lot more than we give them credit for, when I was nannying my 8yo charge read one of the books and was discussing the slavery issues and understood that they paralelled (sp?) to the treatment of the black slaves in times long gone.

It makes me sad how popular they are now though, because the issues raised are ignored in favour of the money that can be made

Oh, and YANBU to think that there are better quality books than JKs but YABU in themes of the first few books being too comprehensive for younger kids to understand The later books are somewhat as you mentioned...

I love telling people that my DS age 8, has told me that he is not ready for HP yet! Shows a maturity and awareness that some parents are lacking!

He is still at the Horrid Henry stage and also loved the diary of a wimpy kid books. I am in favour of anything that encourages him to read at this stage tbh.

"Well, my DS1 will take a book anywhere if he thinks he stands a chance of reading it for 2 seconds, never mind 5 minutes."

My children love to read and often take books with them.

However, there is a difference between this and people with children barely out of nappies being plonked down with a weighty tome wherever they go even if they do not seem particularly interested. These children do usually come with a loud mother who is on the edge of their seat waiting to be asked how old that genius child is. Usually this type of parent would not be seen dead with a child reading Horrid Henry.