I was out of college when I first read Harry Potter and I fell completely and madly in love with it. It was one of the books that reminded me, after years of forced school reading, that I did love to read and would like to be spending my free time reading. So allow me to summarize:
I love the Harry Potter series and I very much hope that readers will too!
In years to come, I hope readers will find this series fall in love with and share it, with their friends, with their parents, and one day, with their children. But my write-ups of the books and a lot of the related coverage I’ll be posting reads like a cautionary tale.
Why will much of my focus be on finding the right time for Harry Potter?
Over the years I have seen many children who are undertaking this series before they are ready. Some readers come to it well before they have the reading skills to actually fully understand the text. Pushed to it for various reasons (which I promise to expand upon in another post) they tackle the books without having the comprehension and ability to really read it. Others may have the reading ability but may not be developmentally ready or even mature enough to handle the themes explored in the books.
My goal this month is to provide you with the information that you need in order to best determine the question of When is it time for Harry Potter? To that end, you’ll find my usual book posts, each Thursday, with full details about the content of each book. You’ll also find various other posts to help you make your decision including:
- Why I think Harry Potter is often read too early
- How to determine if a challenging book is too hard
- Kids’ thoughts on whether or not they can be the authority on what is okay for them
- How to help your child save face when they feel like all their friends are reading it
And hopefully, a special guest post (or two) from a psychologist on whether or not there are any more serious considerations we should be taking into account.
With a five year old to read out loud to, I’ve definitely found that my loving a book from childhood makes it really hard to hold off on till he’s ready.
But I think a big part of the Harry Potter problem is that the age appropriateness changes through the series. When the books were coming out once a year, that’s not as big a deal, because kids are maturing to keep up. Now, though, you have to consider not only when they’re ready for the first book, but how you’re going to manage the whole series.
Sharon, it’s like you’ve been previewing my next post(s)!!
Harry Potter does pose some slightly more difficult problems than other series books. Absolutely the increasing difficulty is a major part of the equation. I think a lot of parents who may not be as familiar with the series might make their decisions based on the first book, which they might have scanned before letting their child read, or read aloud as a bedtime story, but then both the age appropriateness and the degree of difficulty changes drastically as the series continues.
I also believe that Harry Potter’s appeal to adults has compounded the “sharing the favorite book” issue because it’s not just something adults remember fondly from their childhood, it’s something a lot of adults actively love NOW (although this has been dropping off a bit as the movies have all been released).