[jerhanner]

Originally Posted by DNA-1842

The first book was written for 11 ear olds...

Whilst the seventh book was written for the people who were eleven when the first book went out!

And bless her heart for letting the books grow like that. Imagine if CS Lewis had let Narnia mature like that, or Lloyd Alexander with Prydain.

[DNA-1842]

It was a blessing and a curse for her readers though. The used-to-be-eleven-year-olds grew and matured with the storytelling, whilst the current eleven-year-olds whizz through from middle-child to not-quite-so-young-adult storytelling far faster!

[Elizadolots]

That's a great point.

I remember when the 6th book came out Good Morning America had a huge piece about how to help your child cope with the death of a beloved character..and I thought, gee...at 14 or so, shouldn't they have a grip on that? but they were talking about 10 and 11 year olds.

I was rather surprised to find that my then 12 year old daughter had Half Blood Prince in her list of "appropriate reading for her level"...(okay...she'd already read it immediately after it was released, but I was surprised that the masses would consider that right...usually my parenting decisions are viewed as the outside edge of extreme)

[DNA-1842]

Originally Posted by Elizadolots

That's a great point.

I remember when the 6th book came out Good Morning America had a huge piece about how to help your child cope with the death of a beloved character..and I thought, gee...at 14 or so, shouldn't they have a grip on that? but they were talking about 10 and 11 year olds.

I was rather surprised to find that my then 12 year old daughter had Half Blood Prince in her list of "appropriate reading for her level"...(okay...she'd already read it immediately after it was released, but I was surprised that the masses would consider that right...usually my parenting decisions are viewed as the outside edge of extreme)

Dealing with the death of a main character:

Well...

I could deal with Sirius - it was still tragic but his character had not had that much developement - Albus and Fred though!! Fred especially, at least there was a point to Dumbledore's death!!!!!!!

On the subject of ''suitable reading'' lists, I have found that most are alright - apart from ones compiled by English teachers, those have books on them which could drive any normal child to depression I tell you! Just look up the book ''I'm the King of the Castle'' by Susan Hill (and don't read the book itself!), it is rather depressing.

[jerhanner]

We make such a fuss about death! My hubby wasn't allowed to go to funerals until he was 14 and you know what? It took him a long time to adjust to the concept of mortality. Treating it matter of factly would take a lot of the fear away.

[trekie]

almost done with book. I almost gave up on the book. I didn't want to keep reading about Harry's sad life. I wanted to cry, poor kid. Hubby didn't let me so now Iam almost done. I have seen the movies but in the book it seems like you can relate with character better.
As for learning about death , I learned early on in my life, with friends and family members who died. My mother chose to not shelter me. Will I shelter my child, I think I will not. She will see it soon enough with our pets and even family members that are not so young. i just hope I can explain and help my child like my parents did to me

[Elizadolots]

I'll be interested to see what you think about the second book. Lots of people dislike it, but I think it's an exciting action adventure.

[DNA-1842]

Originally Posted by Elizadolots

I'll be interested to see what you think about the second book. Lots of people dislike it, but I think it's an exciting action adventure.

The second one? I thought that that one was quite good!

[buffs79]

the Harry Potter series is a truly amazing masterpiece. It's sad, although they have the right, that some parent's object to their children reading a series of books that have inspired an entire generation to read and learn.