Ok, this is helpful, thanks. Part of my problem is my kid isn't great at articulating what he finds scary. I'm left to guess. I guessed right that the first Harry Potter movie was at the edge of what he could handle.

I think I'm going to try to hold the line on not reading him HP3 and up until he's in third grade at least. As for knowing about the existence of the other books--that ship sailed ages ago. He can see all seven books lined up on our shelves, and he notices when we move even the smallest thing on those shelves.