From: Lee Wardlaw Jaffurs <lwardlaw>
Date: Tue, 10 Jun 2003 06:14:12 -0700

I am

I beg to differ! As an author, a parent, and a former elementary school teacher, I've learned to look at each child as an individual, not as a member of a particular age group.

I started reading to my son when he was a month old; by the time he was five, and had been in his Montessori school for two years, he'd gone way past fairy tales and Mother Goose - - and was asking for Harry Potter. I had my reservations, but decided to give it a shot. We've read all four books as a family more than once (okay, I confess, four times - interspersed with lots and lots and lots of other books, of course) over the last two years, and he loves them. They even helped him to get a handle on September 11th: when he asked about terrorists, and I was explaining about Osama bin Laden, my son said: "Oh, he's like Lord Voldemort, isn't he?" Out of the mouths of babes . . .

Okay, not all five-to-seven year-olds are ready for the Potter books. But my seven-year-old is; and if I don't read it aloud to him beginning on June 22nd, you can be sure he'll find someone else who owns it and will read it himself!

Lee Wardlaw

Ms. Lee Wardlaw lee at leewardlaw.com www.leewardlaw.com

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Received on Tue 10 Jun 2003 08:14:12 AM CDT