HP -- For Kids?

Hibou

Cadet
As the past few HP books have grown increasingly dark, I was wondering what you guys think about young children reading it. When I saw the press coverage for the release of the new book, there were kids who couldn't have been older than seven all dressed up like Harry and stuff...I mean it's great that J.K. has gotten such overwhelming success but seriously these books are pretty scary. Harry has become an increasingly "grey" character and people are dying left and right. I heard that HP is a good book to 'teach youngsters to deal with death' but seriously I think it would just desensitize them more.

What are you guys' opinions on this?
 
I know how you feel...I mean everyone always makes fun of my because I'm in high school and still read Harry Potter and people are always like "They are kids books" but they really aren't. The first two were for the most part, three still was but not as much as the other ones and then we got to four and it was a whole different ball game.

With the death in the end and the descriptive sections of Voldemort performing vulgar actions it was taken to a different level. Then the fifth book was increasingly dark and the series was straying more away from kids...I'm not saying kids don't enjy them I am simply just saying that the books are growing more and more into mature content. Then in the sixth book I won't say anything because there are a lot of people who haven't read it but I'll just say that it is definitly as dark if not darker than the fifth.

Those are just my veiws though.....
 
I think they still are for kids. I think we give too little credit to the kids and their ability to assimilate the harshness of our reality. I mean they are inundated by it on a daily basis anyway. It's just that in Harry Potter land there is goodness, and hope and justice and honor and a definitely positive message of good over evil. So I'd much rathe rhave my kids read Harry potter and get a positive message out of it.

And FYI, don't feel bad that you are in high school and still reading it. I'm 25 and I'm still reading it. I met two people at the IBM eSocial event yesterday who are older than me, and they are just as enthralled by the series. There is something universal and timeless about the world JKR has created that trascends the age boundaries and speaks to a deeply ingrained truth that people of all ages understand.

Xin Li
 
I think its fine. I mean, if a kid starts getting freaked out by a book, lets hope the parents would maybe reconsider bying said kid the book, but i think most kids are able to handle it. I mean, it is getting darker, but its no Stephen King novel YET.
 
A lot of people say that I am too old to be reading Harry Potter, and I'm only 16. they say that its a kid book. i dont think that is or isnt a kid book. Adults like it as much as children do, and I dont think that there is anything wrong with letting kids read them. they never go into graphic detail about death or violence, and while some parents would rather their children didnt read them, if i had kids, i would let them because i dont think that they are that bad. :magician:
 
If I sounded like it wasn't for kids I didn't mean to. If I had kids I would let them read them all the way! I'm not saying some kids wouldn't get disturbed. I don't think it has anything to do with age it simply has to do with maturity and the ability to cope with certain ideas.

As for being 16 and reading them I don't feel bad about it all. I'm actually a really truly proud Harry Potter fan.
 
If I had kids I'd buy them the books in a heartbeat, I wouldn't prevent them from reading the amazing series because they are dark. But it's true, they have got darker, and maybe too long for say, a 6-year-old.

And if there's something most everyone I know gets wrong is how HP is "for kids". I'm 18 and I'll read the 7th book and watch the 7th movie even if it's released when I'm 30 years old. And I hate ppl who ask me "what's so special about HP?" cause I don't even know where to start. This has given me insight into how skeptcial ppl can be.
 
Yeah, according to IMDB. Here are the tentative schedules for the next few HP movies:

# Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire (2005)
# Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix (2007)
# Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince (2008)

So I'm guessing HP7 will be out in 09, at the earliest.
 
I'll be like 20 something when the movies finish- and i'll go to every single one and buy them :D :P

yeah, when J.K. threw a sl*t in there, i was like oh :blink:


i think the last 2 books have been much darker, [spoiler removed] and all, i definitely the books are for teens rather than kids :Ph34r:
 
[spoiler removed].......oh my god that's dirty :sly:

I would say that the book isn't for kids under the age of 12 (at least the more recent ones). First off, the vocabulary is pretty advanced for your average 'childrens' series (If I had read HBP when I was 8 I wouldn't have understood it very well). And, of couse, the subject matter can be a bit disturbing...
 
OK.... now a post from someone who has two kids (7 and 5) and one of them adores Harry Potter. And I think the following quote from above was well put....

I think they still are for kids. I think we give too little credit to the kids and their ability to assimilate the harshness of our reality. I mean they are inundated by it on a daily basis anyway. It's just that in Harry Potter land there is goodness, and hope and justice and honor and a definitely positive message of good over evil. So I'd much rathe rhave my kids read Harry potter and get a positive message out of it.

I think that it's not only entertaining -- but it sparks my son's imagination and creativity.... He started by watching the movies and now he wants to read the books.... and to a mother -- that's a good thing.... :smiley:
 
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