Sunday, March 24, 2024

What Age Is Appropriate For Harry Potter Books

Don't Miss

What Is The Perfect Harry Potter Age

Harry Potter Age Guide

At age 6, I know that Little Pea is nowhere near ready. But. . . the Peanut at age 9 is a different story. Many of her school classmates have read the whole series She has seen the books on her school library shelves as well as my personal one here at home. Santa’s gift of the illustrated version really piqued her curiosity.

When I vowed to read the illustrated Harry Potter as part of my 40 Before 40 list this summer, it suddenly occurred to me that perhaps now was a good time to share it with her. Though she is particularly prone to nightmares and avoids overly scary movies or books, my thought was that we could read through it slowly together and talk about the pictures in the book. We could discuss anything even mildly upsetting as it came up before it had a chance to fester in her imagination.

So What’s The Recommended Reading Order

Fortunately, Harry Potter isn’t one of those series like Star Wars has a sprawling number of canon novels, film novelizations, reference books, and comics to read. Instead, it’s a finite universe which makes catching up on it much easier. We recommend reading the main series chronologically so that you can see Harry and his friends grow up. Then if you’re still thirsting for more of the Wizarding World you can see where your interests most strongly lie , and start again there.

If you still havent read Harry Potter, just know that its never too late to start and even for those who have, youre never too old to go back and relive the magic.

Can’t get enough? Check out our list of the 20 best books like Harry Potter, or 60 best fantasy books for kids!

Trust book recommendations from real people, not robots.

Access Reedsy Discovery for free!

Or sign up with an

Recently discovered fantasy books

Quidditch Through The Ages

Or maybe it’s J.K. Rowling’s smash-hit sport, Quidditch, that tickles your fancy. Today, Quidditch is an actual sport played at over 100 colleges in the United States such is the strength of the grip that it’s exerted on our public imagination. But if you’re interested in the academic side of Quidditch, Rowling’s got you covered with Quidditch Through the Ages, which will tell you all that you ever wanted to know about the history and rules behind Quidditch.

Don’t Miss: What Does Voldemort Look Like In The Books

Moving On And Whats Next

I think actually finishing the series was bittersweet for both of us. Toward the end, we really looked forward to it every night and couldnt wait to find out what happened next. We were reading for up to an hour at a time .

We went on to read Harry Potter and the Cursed Child after finishing the regular series. It was nice to have some continuation of the story, but Im not sure either of us loved the script format.

We also watched one of the Fantastic Beasts movies . I didnt follow it very wellmaybe it would have helped to read the books first.

She watches all of the movies regularlyespecially if shes home sick.

Her younger sister, who is now five and has long found Harry Potter to be too scary, has now requested to start reading them as well. Dad is reading them this timeslowly, like we didso soon the whole family will be immersed in Harry Potter.

As for my oldest, she and I still read aloud every night. We are now on the fourth book in the Little House on the Prairie series. The discussion topics are different and the pace is slower, but shes enjoying them. I think the slower pace is a good thingnot all books are filled with magic and wizards and dragons, and thats okay.

Well need some other books to read soon, and I hope to dive into more of the middle grade books Ive been eyeing.

She is also reading the Harry Potter series again, on her own this time. I would not be surprised if Harry Potter becomes a comfort read for her, like it has for so many others.

Harry Potter And The Cursed Child

11 Life Lessons I Learned From Harry Potter

While not part of the original seven-book series, Cursed Child and the accompanying stage play have become a generally accepted addition to the Harry Potter canon. This 336-page text picks up where the Deathly Hallows epilogue left off, with Harry, Ron, Hermione, and Malfoy sending their unfortunately named kids off to Hogwarts Harrys son Albus and Malfoys son Scorpius serve as our protagonists this time around. Upon arrival at Hogwarts, the boys are both sorted into Slytherin and forge an unlikely friendship, which naturally causes tension between Albus and Harry over the next few years.

After a fight with his father, Albus overhears Cedric Diggorys father Amos asking Harry to use a more powerful version of a Time Turner to go back in time and rescue his son. When Harry refuses, Albus enlists Scorpius to help him save Cedric, with the aid of Diggorys niece Delphi. However, as anyone whos seen Back to the Future can attest, messing with timelines is never a good idea especially in the wizarding world. Things are further complicated by the fact that Delphi is not who she says she is, and may have sinister ulterior motives when it comes to rewriting history.

Don’t Miss: What Happened To Dumbledore’s Hand

What Reading Level Is Harry Potter

The table below shows the Harry Potter reading level by books :

Book Title
Harry Potter and the Sorcerers Stone 5-6
Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets 5-6
Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban 5-6
Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire 5-6
Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix 5-7
Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince 6-8
Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows 6-7 980L

In the rest of the article, we will talk a bit more about Harry Potter books, and the needed reading levels for them. Also, if you are wondering if your kid is old enough to read Harry Potter, you will surely find the answer in the article!

What To Read To Younger Children When Harry Potter Gets Too Dark

Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban is the last book in the Harry Potter sequence that feels good to read to most younger children, but what to fill the gap with while they wait to be old enough to read the last four books? The Book Doctor has magical ideas from Diana Wynne Jones to Eva Ibbotson

I read Harry Potter and the Philosophers Stone to my seven year old and we then went straight onto Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets. He loved both of these titles so we moved immediately onto Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban. However, it is a much darker book and the subsequent titles get darker still so I have paused with the sequence for now. Can you recommend any books with a similarly magical theme which would be suitable for an eight-year-old to listen to?

For many reasons, pausing in the seven book Harry Potter sequence seems like a good idea. As you say, there is a very noticeable difference even between Harry Potter and the Philosophers Stone and Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban and its a difference that grows as the series progresses. The darkness as represented by the malevolence of Voldemorts world and the sense of his increasing power begins to outweigh the magical fun of Hogwarts which so sustains Harry in the beginning.

Read Also: Who Has Played Dumbledore

Harry Potter And The Prisoner Of Azkaban

The third book in the series introduces Sirius Black, a deranged mass murderer whos just escaped from the wizard prison of Azkaban. As a result, swarms of Dementors dark, faceless beings that suck the soul out of their victims and serve as the guards of Azkaban infiltrate Hogwarts to patrol for Black, whos supposedly after Harry next. To make matters worse, our normally steadfast hero has a bad reaction to the Dementors, which cause him to faint on a train and even lose a critical Quidditch match.

Again, though, its not all doom and gloom. Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban also features Professor Remus Lupin, the new Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher and a school friend of Harrys late father. Lupin and Harry quickly forge a father-son-like relationship themselves, and Lupin teaches Harry the Patronus Charm to protect himself from Dementors.

Meanwhile, Ron and Hermione are squabbling even more than usual over their respective pets, Crookshanks the cat and Scabbers the rat. But what seems like a lighthearted subplot turns out to be a major factor in one of the biggest twists of the series, revealed in the last few chapters and which naturally involves Black and Lupin as well. Oh, and hippogriffs and time traveling, in case that wasnt enough to sell you on it.

On Reading Harry Potter Aloud With Kids

How Much Did Hermione AGE in Third Year? – Harry Potter Theory
  • Pin

This post may include affiliate links. That means if you click and make a purchase, I may earn a small commission.

Not long ago, my seven-year-old daughter and I completed a milestone: we finished reading the entire Harry Potter series aloud.

Google tells me that we read roughly 4,101 pages, though the actual page count varies by publisher and edition.

Toward the end of our journey through the books, I figured I could read about 25 pages aloud in an hour. Which means that we spent at least 164 hours readingbut I estimate that it was probably about twice that.

We started reading the books when she was five. Admittedly, this was maybe a little early. We read those first couple of books very slowly. My reading pace was slower, she asked more questions, we took more breaks.

As she got older and became a true Potterhead, we picked up the pace. With the last couple of books, we were reading as fast as we couldnot truly wanting the experience to end, but wanting to find out what happened.

And of course, the hours discussing the books mean that we have been immersed in the world of Harry Potter for over two years now. Were now planning to start a mother-daughter book journal, where we can both share our thoughts on the books we read together.

Since Harry Potter has become such a huge part of our lives, I thought Id share some lessons we learned, as well as some reflections on what it meant for us to read Harry Potter aloud together.

Don’t Miss: What Is Draco Malfoy’s Birthday

What Is The Number One Banned Book

Here are the titles included in the American Library Association’s Top 100 Most Banned and Challenged Books: 2010-2019:

  • The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian by Sherman Alexie.
  • Captain Underpants by Dav Pilkey.
  • Thirteen Reasons Why by Jay Asher.
  • Looking for Alaska by John Green.

What Is The Perfect Age For Harry Potter

Published: by Tiffany Dahle · This post may contain affiliate links

Wondering if your child is at the perfect Harry Potter age for starting the books? Reading the illustrated Harry Potter series out loud together is the perfect way to introduce Harry’s magical world to your family.

Last Christmas Santa brought one of my very favorite gifts: the illustrated version of Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone. I’ve been a huge Harry Potter fan since the very beginning and I’ve been DYING waiting for just the right time to share him with my girls.

But Oh the agony! What is the perfect Harry Potter age for reading the story with your kids? Should kids read Harry Potter by themselves or should it be a read-aloud book as a family? Should they read Harry Potter in hardcover or paperback? What happens if your kids are different ages and one is ready for Harry but one isn’t? What about the amazing Harry Potter audio versions narrated by Jim Dale, where do they fit in?

Is there any other book series in the history of the world where parents fret over these kinds of questions? I see them asked in my Facebook newsfeed all the time so I know I am not alone. It shows the intense love we feel towards Mr. Potter that we want that experience to be just right for our kids.

Recommended Reading: Which Female Harry Potter Character Are You

A Few Thoughts About Reading Harry Potter

I am a die-hard Harry Potter fan.

I talked about my familys history with Harry Potter last year, when I wrote about Harry Potter and the Cursed Child, so I wont rehash it here, but suffice it to say I love Harry Potter.

As a librarian, Harry Potter was always something of a sticky issue because it was so wildly popular, which meant all the little kids wanted to read it too, and these first graders who wanted to feel grown-up would beg to check them out, even though I knew for a fact they could hardly read, and theyd just carry those giant books around for a week without really being able to read them.

I didnt want to be the librarian who forbade children to check out a book they really wanted to check out, but I also didnt want them to have nothing they could actually read for the week.

I finally settled on the deeply unsatisfying method of suggesting they get something else and then letting them get Harry Potter if they insisted.

And, of course, the books get darker and more complex as they go along, which was perfect when you were growing up alongside the books, and less perfect when you start the first one at age six.

All of which is to say that when I frequently get asked what the right age to read Harry Potter is, I dont have a great answer.

We read Harry Potter and the Sorcerers Stone and she seemed to like it, but I could tell she was having a hard time keeping track of all the characters.

When To Read Harry Potter To Your Children

Books like percy jackson and harry potter, fccmansfield.org

In my day, you had to read the Harry Potter books on your own, in the original heavy hardcover books with tiny font and no handy pronunciation guide. To be fair, I was one of the lucky Harry Potter generation who started reading Sorcerers Stone at age 11 and got to read along as the last books were published, which was very exciting.

For kids today, they might not be able to experience the anticipation of a new Harry Potter release, but there are some exciting new ways to experience these books that I wish I had access to as a kid!

For very young children, you can start out by reading the books to them. Reading to your children is incredibly beneficial for a number of reasons, and has been proven to improve vocabulary, reading comprehension, literacy, social skills, and much more. Its a great way to bond with your kids and help them unwind and prepare for bed at the end of the day.

The newly published illustrated editions of Harry Potter are exquisitely designed and practically beg for parents to read them to their children at bedtime. The big, beautiful pages make it easy for witches and wizards of all ages to follow along and envision the creatures and characters of the Wizarding World. So far, only Sorcerers Stone, Chamber of Secrets, Prisoner of Azkaban, and Goblet of Fire have been published as illustrated editions, but more are on the way!

Recommended Reading: Is Harry Potter And The Cursed Child Movie

Harry Potter And The Half

Things take a turn for the expository in this penultimate installment, which sees Harry learn all about Voldemorts family and origin story, so to speak. Dumbledore gives Harry these lessons to prepare him for a grand future battle with Voldemort, presumably in the vein of keeping his enemies closer. What Harry doesnt know is that Dumbledore is planning something even bigger a plan that he, Harry, becomes more inexorably entangled in with each passing day.

At the same time, Harry suspects Malfoy to be colluding with Voldemort, and begins obsessively tracking him on the Marauders Map. But each new lead just seems to be a wrong turn, and Harry grows increasingly frustrated with the lack of evidence when he knows that Malfoy is guilty. His only good luck, funnily enough, is in potions class. After receiving a secondhand textbook filled with tips and tricks from the mysterious Half-Blood Prince, Harry shines under the tutelage of their new potions professor Slughorn. Hermione, meanwhile, is jealous of Harrys newfound academic success, and attempts to uncover the Princes identity to prove hes crooked.

Harry Potter Reading Level Guide With Age Recommendations

Heres the most comprehensive Harry Potter reading level guide that your family can use to decide when to start reading the Harry Potter books.

Whether you are a die-hard Potterhead or an ignorant Muggle who doesnt even know their Hogwarts house , we can pretty much guarantee that at some point, your children will express an interest in or at least mention Harry Potter.

This reading level guide is designed to inform parents and caretakers about the Harry Potter series and provide guidance on how to decide when to allow children to read the books, as well as provide supplemental information about the Wizarding World of Harry Potter.

So grab yourself a Butterbeer and settle in! Theres a lot to learn.

Don’t Miss: Harry Potters Patronus

More articles

Popular Articles