Gifted Issues Discussion homepage Forums Parenting and Advocacy Harry Potter--Doling out the books in the series

Alright--for those who allowed your kids to advance to HP3 and higher in the books at the ages of six, seven, and eight--how did you handle the introduction of the dementors, and all that comes with them? That's the big objection my husband has to reading him HP3--he finds the dementors to be one of the scariest concepts in the entire series, and I see his point. DS will be 6 in early Sept FWIW.

Or you can be us, and find out at HP5 that the teen has been reading HP aloud to the preteen, while the preschooler is listening.

No apparent deleterious effects on the little one, probably because of not having a frame of reference for scariness.

I read that it troubles JK Rowling to this day, but she was young and inexperienced and still in the heady OMG I am having a book published phase, so she went along with it.
You'd think she has the clout now to insist it be changed back, but who knows, publishing contracts are scary things.
I also think all the money that went to our local publishers might go into finally commissioning a proper translation to replace the current atrocious one...

Edited to actually answer the OPs question:
I had to MAKE DS9 read the books about a year ago because he insisted he wasn't interested in wizards and witches but in "realistic" (read detective and science fictions yea right) fiction.
He then zoomed right through all 7 volumes.
I recall he got a bit stuck on the fifth (heck, I got a bit stuck on the fifth) but by the time he read the seventh, I just let it go and he did not appear bothered in the slightest. This is the kid I still won't let watch a lot of Disney movies, and in the few it did let him watch I skipped parts (eg Simba finding dead Mustafa), and who would, at the age of five still be inconsolable because in one book he read, the postman could not find the house the dragon had Carried away and the family might miss out on their letters...
For some reason, HP was okay all the way through.
So I've decided I will let him self censor with reading material.
I feel different about the movies, but so far we are through the fifth with no issues. Will hold out a bit on the rest because his HP obsession has waned and he is now lobbying for the Percy Jackson movies.
Wondering about DD5 now. The books are around, and DS9 even tried to make her read the first, but she isn't there yet.

My son didn't really need an explanation-I mean, at the time he was reading those books for the first time, he was dealing with his own negative thoughts and it was pretty clear to both of us that the dementors represent depression. Maybe that helps-to point out that they represent a feeling, rather than just being scary monsters.
Sorry-I meant to quote, but this was in response to the question of how we explain to younger kids about the dementors.

I'll admit that this is made easier by a much older cousin's influence, but older cousin happened to be exactly 10 years old when the first HP came out. Subsequent books came out once per year, as he grew up. Cousin has always commented about how he loved growing up with HP. So my plan is to give the first book to DS when he turns 10, and give him each subsequent book on his birthday.

We'll see how it goes. But Cousin's influence has always been mighty.

I agree that the dementors are very scary, and my kids would say the same. DS8 actually went as a dementor for Halloween at age 7 (grade 1). That sounds kind of wrong now that I type it out. It was all his idea, of course.

I'll just take a moment to recommend the absolutely wonderful audiobooks of HP. Though we've all read the series, some of us many times, we still enjoy listening to these, and it's a nice way to go through the series with a child who may not be 100% ready. I personally couldn't read these aloud night by night--too long--but on a long road trip, we've polished off a book or two.

Yes! The audiobooks, particularly the unabridged ones, are brilliant. Unfortunately I have most of them on cassette tape...not very convenient now.

My favorite has to be Stephen Fry's unabridged recording of Philosopher's Stone. Does anyone know if he went on to record subsequent books in the series?

All seven here:

https://soundcloud.com/search?q=harry%20potter%20stephen%20fry

Thank you!

As of Saturday, DS has started spontaneously writing "chapters" of his own Harry Potter book. He's up to chapter five now. Neville Longbottom's inveterate snoring is a recurring joke...