Happy birthday to....

[author_by_night]

prettyveela! Eat lots of cake. 

[Unknown site tag] OT, but I have a question; is it snotty of me to think, when I hear of seven year olds reading all the HP books, that few of them are likely to actually really get them? I mean, I just can't see myself letting a seven year old read OoTP. Ten, yes - they are kids books, like it or not - but seven? Then again, maybe its that they wouldn't quite see how some of the really disturbing things (the Dementor's Kiss, Harry's almost hexing Bellatrix) were so.

But still... I just think seven is way too young, and I feel a bit snotty for thinking they might not even understand, when really, what does it matter?

 

Comments

[emilyanna07.livejournal.com]

I think JK Rowling feels the same way, actually.

[scionofgrace.livejournal.com]

I think you're right. Even ten can be too young for some of the things addressed in the later books: not that they're "inappropriate" for kids at that age, but that they won't get it, not really. I read The Lord of the Rings for the first time at the age of eleven, and I really think I was too young. The depth of the HP books is lost on anyone who is not at least a teenager.

For instance, if you ask anyone over the age of sixteen what they thought of Harry's attitude and actions in OotP, they say, "Man, Rowling got it exactly right!" They remember being like that, and feeling that the whole world was out to get them, that everyone they love or care for is abandoning/betraying them, and that their emotions held sway over everything. But you ask anyone under the age of fourteen about OotP, and they're confused or put off by Harry. It's all about perspective and experience.

[author-by-night.livejournal.com]

Yeah, through I do still tihnk JKR is fine with the ten year olds reading them - she just hopes someday they'll catch the deeper meanings, if they don't already. But I think emily anna has a point, too; she probably is a bit bewildered by all the six year old fans.

But I will say even people under sixteen understood Harry's emotions - and a lot of people over didn't. (I, however, remember being through those years - it really does seem like even your family wants to ruin your life at times).

[denadorite.livejournal.com]

I agree. Kids that young may be reading them, and they may get some of the low humor jokes...(ie Ron's Uranus line) But in truth I just don't think they can grasp some of the deeper details of the books. Granted, I sometimes think that we older fans tend to over analyze, but still. It's like with my 11 year old nephew playing Final Fantasy VII. He really has no clue about a lot of the story line because he never really comprehends it. He just runs around fighting battles. When it comes to PS/SS I think that anyone could read it. In CoS there are some details that I really don't think a younger audience could grasp. PoA may be alright for most audiences... I didn't think it was that heavy of a book. Now GoF and OotP should really at least be read by the kids parents first if they're really young. Then again, with all the violence in the media, movies, and video games it wouldn't be surprising at all if the violence/killing/deep stuff didn't face the youth audience at all.

Wow.. I don't know if that made much sense ;)

[briel1e.livejournal.com]

Hmmm...being fairly young myself, I can't really think. But I do know that I read the books like this:

PS - Seven
CS - Seven
PA - Eight
GoF - Nine
OotP - Twelve.

But I can't really remember my first impressions, because I've reread them so often.

[arayuldaiel.livejournal.com]

I pretty much read the books as brie1e did. SS was the first 'real' chapter book I had read, I remember that much.

I feel kind of selfish, because I'm really glad we had that nice long break between GoF and OotP. There's no way I would have been ready to read it if it came out when I was only ten or so. I know that twelve doesn't sound much better, but it definitely was for me. By that time, I was involved in fandom, I was mature enough to comprehend the books and understand stuff that I hadn't gotten when I was seven. (I didn't get the 'not as a last resort' thing until I was ten. I thought Hermione was telling Ron not to ask her out or something. Look, I was nine, I didn't know anything about icky boys.)

And, um, this comment was kind of pointless, wasn't it?

[dancing-kumquat.livejournal.com]

I do not think it depends on the age, it completely depends on the person. For example at seven I would not have liked HP simply because I was into Arcie Comics (:P). But look at Brielle and Ara for example, age is not the issue, it's maturity.

[in-the-blue.livejournal.com]

Bah, I say. Bah.

I started reading the books with my daughter at her request when she was in the first grade (she's in 4th now). After Prisoner of Azkaban and the Dementors I decided to read any subsequent HP books to myself first to see if they were too scary for her. Before we read Goblet of Fire together, I thought it was way too dark and distressing for her. I told her that it began and ended in a graveyard and that someone died and that there were a lot of really bad things in it. She wanted to read it anyhow and I was so cautious, I kept stopping and asking if she was all right.

What amazes me is not the fact that Goblet of Fire is her very favorite of all the HP books, but that each time I read one or listen to one on tape with her, she gets things on an entirely different level from me. What's important to a 7- or 8- or 9-year-old is different from what's important to an adult reader. Do the younger kids "get" all the in-jokes? No, but as an adult reader of these books, I don't "get" some of the more juvenile references.

One of the beautiful things about JKR's writing is that it is appropriate on so many different levels. She tells a great story that everyone can follow, but there are nuances in there for different age groups too.

But both my daughter and I agree that Order of the Phoenix is a really sad book. We read it together twice, but she's done with it. I hope Half-Blood Prince isn't as wholly depressing, because I can barely look at the cover of OotP without getting sad.

So no, I don't think you're snotty, but I do think that, like dancing_kumquat says here, it depends entirely on the reader. Kids are a lot more durable than most of us think.

[bisforbecky.livejournal.com]

I often read books that are above my head, as I feel that this is what makes me smart. When I think I'm reading one of those books, I make a mental note to read it again when I'm older so I'll understand better. I do think there are many things 7-year-olds wouldn't understand, I think it's good that they read them, and hopefully, they'll read them again.

[leapin-jot.livejournal.com]

I teach seven-year-olds. Most of my students probably have rather low reading levels compared to kids from different economic levels, so most of my students are just gearing themselves up for chapter books. The kids in my class that could easily read a chapter book need lots of encouraged to try. So my second thought to the idea of seven year-olds reading HP is that it would be too hard for most as anything but a read aloud.

When I taught nine-year-olds, which I did for several years, I had students tell me all the time that they had read the HP books. Then when I began asking them questions specifically from the book, they would be totally stumped. Again, my students levels are probably below what you'd expect at other schools.

My first thought to the idea of seven-year-olds reading HP is to question if they even understand what reading really is. I've seen so many kids who think that reading is telling me what the words are and who have no idea of comprehension. Still I never told my students they couldn't try, instead, after, letting them know that the HP books might be frustrating to them, I'd pick out a scene that I liked and have them read that and talk to them about it (The dwarf cupid knocking down Harry to sing him a Valentine was my favorite for that purpose). At least then they'd remember liking the part they remembered, and maybe later on they'll want to go back and read it for real this time.

There was a whole thread about this in the Teachers part of the Leaky Lounge, but I think it was taken down or something.

[prettyveela.livejournal.com]

I'm late but THANK YOU and I did! :D