Is Private Peaceful suitable reading for 7 year olds?

[FatMumSlim72]

They are having it read to them in class....

I don't know this book what's it about?

Good god, no! Has the teacher actually read it?

VerityWaves it's a Michael Morpurgo book about WWI. A soldier stays awake all night in solidarity of his brother who will be shot at dawn. (I think for cowardice?). As he stays awake, he remembers all his wartime experiences.

Fair enough they have to learn about the war but the firing squad at dawn is heavy stuff. (Shot for helping his brother on the battlefield and so disobeying orders.) Recommended age on Michael Morpurgo's website is 9+. Teacher still going ahead because wants to teach them about death, as opposed to computer game death, which she feels they are overexposed to.

MrsCastle, Yes, I think she has read it. Your reaction was the same as my older kids'!

It is a book we study at high school and found that some Year 7s struggled with the concepts - with the disability of Big Joe, the affair between the master of the house and the relationships. Let alone the war. Seven year olds would struggle

My son is in y8 at a grammar school and studying this at the moment...

Ah, thanks for the correction, it has been a while since I read it.

As for the teacher... That is bizarre. Is this a Y3 class? My DD1 is 6, in Y2 and there is absolutely NO way she will have the emotional maturity to deal with something like that in a year's time. She would be very distressed by it. Yes, she needs to learn about death, and we don't hide it from her, but it's something children should learn at an appropriate time and place.

I would be complaining about this teacher- and that is not something I say lightly!

I bought it for ds1 when he was 11/12. I would not be keen for ds3(8) to read it.

I think my DD was about 11/12 when she read it, and it's the only book that I can remember making her noticably subdued. She said it was a good book but.... obviously it had been upsetting.

I have no idea why primary teachers sometimes ignore an authors age recommendation - same thing with the Boy in the Striped Pyjamas (which isn't even a good book imo)

I have only read the synopsis, but I don't think it is at all suitable for that age group. I would have to have A Word.

I'm a secondary English teacher and we teach that to S1/S2 pupils (Scotland - equiv of y7/y8). Unless the teacher has done some heavy editing then no way is it suitable for 7 year olds.

Ooops posted too soon! There's a harrowing section with a firing squad, issues around learning difficulties/disability (Big Joe) and an implied sexual relationship and pregnancy. A lot of themes/issues that need to be dealt with delicately. 7 yo is far too young for these themes IMO.

I read it last year, as an adult, and sobbed. Superb book, but not for 7 yr olds.

DS1 read this when he was 10/11 and was in floods of tears at one point. This was in the privacy of his own bedroom. He definitely would not have coped with it at 7, especially in a school setting.

No, not for 7-year-olds. My son's Year 3 class are doing Matilda. And some of that's quite upsetting! I would have thought that 'Not Bad for a Bad Lad' would have been better if they wanted a Morpurgo.

DS2 has just done this book as a set text in English. He is 12.

Is she reading the whole thing? Maybe she's reading extracts, but not making that too obvious to them? (Hopeful )

At seven there are much more age-appropriate ways of talking about death. Plenty of books where a character dies, that don't involve firing squad and all the other stuff.

My DD is in yr 6 at an academically selective prep. The recommended book list has got a lot of really quite advanced books on it but it recommends not before Y6 for private peaceful.

For a book that gently introduces the concept of death, I'd suggest Bridge to Terebithia. Sad, but not harrowing.

Thanks so much. I hate feeling like I'm making a fuss but I feel that I am right to be concerned! I am finding it so hard to know when to say my children can't be exposed to things that I am uncomfortable with (eg my Year12 having to study The Pillowman - had to google it and HECK it's horrible) and when to help support them from the sidelines once they have already seen or heard the story.

My year 7 top set dd is reading it in English.

DD2 did it last year in Yr6 with her after school reading group, but they were all very mature girls and it was a small group so lots of time for discussion and feedback.

DD1 did it in Yr7. Yr 3 really is too young, and there are more appropriate books on the topic.

definitely too young, ds read it in year 6 and then studied it properly in yr 7.

Year 3 is too young imo.

It's a really beautifully written book which tackles a really challenging subject very well but it's a difficult read and year 3's either wouldn't really get it or be really troubled by it.

Ds1 is a very mature reader and it upset him when he read it in Year 5. I read it after him because he was upset and I cried buckets.

Dd is is year 3 and her group reading book is Morpurgo's The Butterfly Lion. This also says 9+ but I think it is much more suitable than Private Peaceful.