“Nothing will be interesting after Harry Potter”

[Frogusha]

DD1 is 8 and is on HP5 right now. She’s read a few chapter books before but apart from one other book never really found them enjoyable. She absolutely loves (like so many others) the Harry Potter world but it worried me today for the first time that she might go back to not really “getting” other books. Of course magical creatures and adventures written in a modern language are exciting. How will she enjoy reading books like Anne of green gables, for example, when there are no thrills and excitement at every turn? If your kids are Potterheads how did they go back to reading more “real life” books? She’s currently telling me that when she finishes them all she’s going to start again from the beginning

Harry Potter was first published when I was a child and I loved it - I used to count down to the next book release and beg my mum to take me to waterstone's as soon as it opened to collect my pre-ordered copy! I still managed to read widely and thoroughly enjoy lots of different genres. I studied English Literature at uni and continue to love reading until this day. It's wonderful if she's found something she enjoys and I strongly recommend re-reading every book you enjoy as it's amazing what you miss the first time around! Continue to foster a pleasure in reading and let her explore other books as and when she chooses.

Oooh, and Skulduggery Pleasant! My 9yo son really enjoyed those (viewpoint protagonist is a girl, too).

He also liked Wolf Brother by Michelle Paver.

halcyondays, the only other book she really enjoyed was The Creakers by Tom Fletcher (and that was before HP). Books she didn’t like at all are various fairy series, Enyd Blyton Magic Faraway tree collection, Ronald Dahl various (although she quite enjoyed the Witches), some modern series about Claud detective, Dotty detective. Some books I can’t remember she brought from school about children caring for kittens she especially disliked. She didn’t mind Trouble with Daisy books, Wigglebottoms primary (obviously much shorter reads and a while ago), Diary or the wimpy kid, but nowhere near as much as HP. She loved How to train your dragon cartoon so I thought she’s sure to like the book but alas, she only got through a couple of chapters (maybe 3 or 4).

She’s a slow reader. She frequently goes back and re-reads the same sentence or paragraph several times she tells me, because she wants to make sure she understands it. Is she’s going to re-read those books 20 times at her current speed she’ll be 90 by the time she’s finished :)

Hopefully she’ll get faster as she gets older... I don’t remember the same process with me, i.e. ever being a slow reader but maybe it’s my memory (I mean, I now doubt myself, I always thought I was a fast reader but have definitely not read as much as some DC referred to on this thread!) ;)

Thinking of other series with that HP-like mix of magic and realism...

Redwall series by Brian Jacques
Over Sea, Under Stone by Susan Cooper (the first of The Dark is Rising series)

What about time-travel magical realism stuff like Charlotte Sometimes, Tom’s Midnight Garden or Moondial?

And if she’s a confident reader she’s probably not too many years off enjoying Discworld.