My DD who just turned 7 just read the first book in the Harry Potter series and wants to move on to the next book. I never read the books and am not sure I am up for it right now so I was wondering how the intensity increases with each book and if there are things I should be aware of in the books. TIA
Yes, intensity increases in each book-- my DD had no problems with it, but she is
not a good proxy for what is emotionally manageable for most kids. She was watching CSI avidly by the time she was five, too, and expressed interest in "forensic pathology" as career path at Homeschool Days (awkward!).
DD read all five books before she was seven, and then eagerly awaited the publication of the next two. The first two books are relatively tame, but they turn increasingly dark from there on out; by book four,
characters--including those one has grown to know well-- are DYING with some regularity.The movies, though, are different from the books in terms of creep-factor and intensity-- Chamber of Secrets really freaked her out. A LOT. Truthfully that giant snake thing kinda freaks ME out, too, if I think about it too long.
I'd say that the movies are far MORE emotionally intense for most elementary aged kids than the books-- because with the books, they control the mental image that they form, and can keep it within bounds. (Sort of, anyway.)
Book 2: Giant snake thing and ghost-girl
Book 3: Scary prisoner/stalker guy, Dementors (demonic soul-sucking monsters) and a werewolf.
Book 4: Love interests start appearing in the books, this one is quite violent, I'd say-- and some of that is interpersonal strife, too-- and one of the
kids dies at the end. We also 'see' Voldemort for the first time at the end of this book, though you meet his alter ego in book 2.
Book 5: Ordinary people can be pretty evil, too, as it turns out. This book is mostly about
interpersonal/social things, and may completely escape kids who don't have the social development to 'get' aspects of it. But it is easier from a violence standpoint than book 4. On the other hand, the loss of a central character at the end is pretty shattering.
Book 6: This one, we learn a LOT more about what nasty people the previous generation seems to have been, all in all. More death at the midpoint of the book, and THIS ONE IS A DOOZY.
I am not over this one, and probably never will be. You know how you felt when Aslan died? Yeah-- there's no resurrection in Rowling's universe.
Book 7: Bleak, bleak, bleak. Horrifying and very very creepy through and through-- right up to the end, in fact. I cried off and on starting about 1/3 of the way through this book-- and didn't stop until the very last page. Now, I cry. I do. I cried when Beth dies in Little Women when I was 8, and I cried at Les Mis. But this one had moments that made
my stoic DD cry, even.
Honestly, I'd probably preread anything past book 4 for a kid this age. If you can, I mean. DD read so fast that all I could really do was to keep up with her and talk to her about anything she found disturbing. Er-- or anything that
I found disturbing.
There is some pretty rich territory for deep philosophical discussion in this series of books, which can be read as all manner of allegory. Comparable series in that respect:
LOTR, Wrinkle in Time, Dark Materials (though be aware that Pullman is no Christian, apologist or not).
The intensity is real, but it isn't without purpose in the narrative.
