Harry Potter VII is Coming. Are you re-reading Vol. I-VI?

I'm holding out until sozlet's old enough, then plan to read them together. I think she's nearly there in terms of reading ability/ comprehension, but I know that some of the content is a bit much. I asked some people at my book club about what age they thought she could start, about 10 seemed to be the consensus. Your thoughts?

My sister read the first book to her daughters, who were about 7 and 9 at the time. By the time the second book came out, they didn't need her anymore. She had to wait her turn to read it.

I've read each book just before the movie comes out. I'm halfway thru Book 5 - right on schedule to finish it before the movie comes out next week.

Soz--

I think you can force a child--particularly a girl child--into premature sexuality. I'm also damned sure that you cannot force a child into premature intellectuality.

I'd keep a copy of Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone handy for snowbound days or not-well-enough-to-go-back-to-school days or special reward occasions.

When she's finished with the first volume, she either will or will not want to move on. Likewise with Volumes II and III and IV.

The Sozlet will never have the cliff-hanging, character-building experience of waiting for the next installment to be published--but she doesn't have to gobble the entire series by the time she's in second grade, either.

Using the Harry Potter series as a way to convince a bright kid that Smarts is not Necessarily Maturity might be an excellent idea.

I read The Hobbit to my sons when they were six and eight. The eight year old went on to the trilogy--and the six year old waited two years and then gave the LOTR a second try, announcing "I'm old enough for this now."

Ripeness is all--but unlike fruit, unread books don't rot.

Five more days! On the fifth day, Amazon promises it'll be at my door. (God help them, if it isn't!) Can't wait can't wait!

Oh! Someone emailed me this link today. I have to share it - wickedly clever & funny.

http://www.cracked.com/index.php?name=News&sid=2235

I'm re-reading books five and six, with a particular view at hints. So far, the only predictions I'm fairly confident about are the one everybody makes:

• RAB is Regulus Black
  
• Regulus Black got the locket and brought it back to his parents' house. It is mentioned several times in book 5.
  
• Mundungus Fletcher nicked the locked and sold it of. Harry observes him do this in book 6 and gets mad about it. The incident has no function whatsoever in the story arc of book 6; why mention it at all unless it becomes relevant in book 7?
  
• Snape turns out to be a good guy.
  
• Ginny somehow saves Harry's life through her love. (I hope I'm wrong here. This whole kitschy lerve business in the later Harry Potter Books is something I could well live without.)

So far I found no basis for any original prediction about book 7.

I'm not confident giving you an age, because it depends a lot on the kid's character and the parent's preferences. Three other points though: (1) Harry Potter books have an addictive quality. Once Sozlet starts reading book 1, she'll rip right through all of them, reaching book 7 within a few months of starting book 1. (2) The books start as harmless children stuff, then get darker and darker. Putting the first two points together, it follows that (3) the key question isn't what the right age to start the series is, but what the right age to finish the series is.

I recommend that you read book seven first, decide what's the right age for Sozlet to read it, and start with book 1 when she reaches that age -- no earlier.

Excellent point about book 7.

I'd missed your response, Noddy. Sexuality is the least of my worries, by "some of the content is a bit much" I meant like violence, way-heavy emotional stuff, the "darker and darker" part that Thomas refers to.

I don't think I personally can start with book 7 though! I'll want the whole experience rather than skipping to the end. So I guess that means reading them before her..? Hmm. I'll figure it out.

Remember, avid readers with plenty of choice won't choose to read a book that they aren't emotionally ready for.

You think?

She has lousy judgment when it comes to movies ("Walking with the Dinosaurs" gave her horrible, sleep-busting nightmares for years), not sure if she'd be better when it comes to books. (Once she gets involved in any semblance of any kind of story she MUST SEE WHAT HAPPENS. I can't say I'm much different...)

Heatwave--

I hope you never consider dangling your m-i-l upside down in mid air.

Thomas--

I agree about the locket.

I also think Percy may be destined for a short life--unless Mrs. Weasley saves him.

I agree about Snape probably deserving his place in the Order of the Phoenix--he'll do something heroic. Rowlings heroes have flaws--all of them.

Soz--

I'd guess that most Good Little Girls of Single Digit Ages are going to be thoroughly bored by the obsessions of adolescence--and somewhat turned off by unbecoming conduct in Major Characters. Of course, Soz may just plow forward.

My older son had a spate of nightmares when he was six. I asked him where nightmares came from and helped him figure out that he created them from odds and ends he'd fed his brain.

A few hours later he drifted back and sighed contentedly, "When I'm older I'll be able to create really scary dreams."

Of course this is a masculine point of view.

You might also consider that while there are still two movies to go, the Harry Potter Age is winding down to an inevitable end. Right now Soz may plow ahead because Harry Potter is part of the current ethos. In a year or so....who knows?

Interesting thought. It will also fit into this whole kitchy lerve theme. Speaking of which, I have one more theory to throw in while there can still be theories: I think Snape was in love with Harry's mother, and that this is why he switched sides after Voldemort killed her. I also think he made an unbreakable vow to Dumbledore at the time, and that this is the reason Dumbledore trusted him. It'll be interesting to see, though, how how this vow could be compatible with killing the wizard Snape made it to.

Thomas--

I noticed last night that Snape killed Dumbledore to prevent young Draco Malfoy from committing murder. Snape prevented Harry from launching any of the Dark Arts curses and jinxes, once again protecting youth and innocence.

Snape also insisted that the other Death Eaters spare Harry.

Yes. That's why I continue to think Snape is a closet good guy.

One of the sub-texts of Rowlings opus is that while obnoxious people are tedious and they can be inconvenient, they are not necessarily actively evil.

From Michiko Kakutani's review:



Going by Thomas' excellent metric, we'll be waiting. No rush. Sozlet's bookworm tendencies have continued unabated through the summer and I don't see that slowing down anytime soon.

Oh no!! Sozobe - I wish you hadn't quoted from that NY Times review. I've been trying so very hard to avoid reading *any* spoilers, big or small!

Bloody New York Times!! I'm so very pissed at them. How could they!!

I don't see that as much of a spoiler, Heatwave... Not like they named the characters who die... We're all pretty certain some will be sacrificed for the sake of plot progression and others will be tortured in the name of same...

(Sorry _Heatwave_! Didn't think of it as a spoiler but I can see how it would be viewed that way. I'll let you fans get to it and come back in a few years...)

No worries, sozobe. Rowling herself said that she was going to off two main characters. The NY Times review reveals it to be more like half-a-dozen (I know, not necessarily main cast).... Damn and blast the NY Times. Can't believe their soggy asses.

BTW, I do think Thomas' suggestion was excellent - to back track from the age you'd want the Sozlet to read the final book at.

Noddy, if I could begin to tell you of the number of times I've wished for a magic wand to do just that and a few other wicked things to m-i-l.

Two more days. Only, I've a friend visiting for the weekend now, from out of town. I was seriously tempted to say that something had come up and beg a reschedule.