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Thoughts on Harry
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From: Monica R. Edinger <edinger>
Date: Sun, 08 Jun 2003 08:44:20 -0400
I am personally looking forward to the new Harry Potter book and quite curious if a major war/battle is in the works given the dramatic ending of Harry Potter 4.
As for my current 4th graders, I doubt a darker book is going to matter to them. Those who devour fantasy literature, read it at their developmental level. I can think of a number of very dark fantasies which they read this year with tremendous pleasure. House of the Scorpion, Ender's Game, the His Dark Materials trilogy, the books of Nix (Sabriel, Lireal, and Abhorsen) are some that come to mine and I can't imagine the new Harry Potter being darker than any of these while still being a children's book.
As for Harry's age, I think that is immaterial to my students. As long as Harry is still in school which makes him a kid in their eyes, that is all that matters. If there is love they will simply read past it and the violence, I'm afraid they will quite wallow in it! Of course, if someone like Ron is killed off (remember the hype of the last book), things might be different, but I just can't see that happening ---- loyal readers would feel betrayed, I think, as the books haven't had sufficient markers to suggest such a thing happening. And a dark good vs. evil war, that is no different than many other books, movies, and video games my students adore. (For the last few years a number of boys have been attempting, some more successfully than others, to read Tolkien's trilogy because of the movies.)
As for older children, I suspect whether they read the new book will depend on a number of factors. First of all, what sort of readers are they now? In 1998 (when the first and second books came out in this country) I had a small group of boys and one girl HP enthusiasts; they are finishing up 8th grade this year. The girl I know is looking forward to the newest book. She has read and reread the others many times. One of that group, however, I suspect may not. He is onto other things now; he reads adult books and may not be at all interested in the new book --- the buzz won't matter to him at all.
Then there are our 7th graders. These children came into my 4th grade classroom in the fall of 1999 either having read all the books (there were 3 out by then) or lugging them in to read. I was particularly concerned about children for whom the books were too difficult, but wouldn't admit that because it felt as if EVERYONE had to read them. And then I was amused to watch girls who were reading them purely because they were the hottest thing. These were girls who would otherwise have been reading a very different sort of book: Naylor's Alice books, Danziger/Martin's epistolary books, or Cabot's Princess Diaries. After a few weeks, I convinced most of them that they could take breaks and read other books and soon the Harry Potter books sat in their cubbies and did not move until the end of the year. Unless it is again considered the height of 8th grade fashion, those girls are not likely to tackle the new book. The boys who loved it (and that year they were all boys, no girls at all) are, however, another story. One boy still drops by for me to give him books I think he will like. (Most recently I gave him Hearn's Across the Nightingale Floor and The Thief Lord, both of which he liked.) He will definitely read it as will, I'm sure some of his friends.
I worry most about my incoming 4th graders, those who are finishing 3rd grade right now. The fantasy buffs have probably read all the others and will have no trouble devouring the new one. But what about those that are simply pulled into them again because of the hype? Again, I will have to convince them next fall that their place in society will not be destroyed if they chose not to read the Harry Potter books.
I like the Harry Potter books, very much in fact. They are great fun to read. However, the publication of the last three books has resulted in a tsunami of testimonials by adults to the effect that the books do everything except slice bread. They are evidently THE books for turning boys onto reading. Teachers who claim to dislike fantasy will announce that THESE books are different. Parents speak of their five year-olds who beg and beg for these amazing, extraordinary, and remarkable books.
Come on. These books, so to speak, have to put their pants on one leg at a time just like the rest of us. They are good; I like them. But there are plenty of other books that turn boys on to reading. And those fantasy-haters might try to be a bit more open to all books and then they might discover other fantasies that equal or even, gasp, surpass these. And maybe, just maybe those parents should consider reading Winnie The Pooh to their five year-olds at their usual bedtime instead of standing with them outside a bookstore at midnight come June 21.
Monica
Monica Edinger The Dalton School New York NY edinger at dalton.org monicaedinger at yahoo.com
Received on Sun 08 Jun 2003 07:44:20 AM CDT
Date: Sun, 08 Jun 2003 08:44:20 -0400
I am personally looking forward to the new Harry Potter book and quite curious if a major war/battle is in the works given the dramatic ending of Harry Potter 4.
As for my current 4th graders, I doubt a darker book is going to matter to them. Those who devour fantasy literature, read it at their developmental level. I can think of a number of very dark fantasies which they read this year with tremendous pleasure. House of the Scorpion, Ender's Game, the His Dark Materials trilogy, the books of Nix (Sabriel, Lireal, and Abhorsen) are some that come to mine and I can't imagine the new Harry Potter being darker than any of these while still being a children's book.
As for Harry's age, I think that is immaterial to my students. As long as Harry is still in school which makes him a kid in their eyes, that is all that matters. If there is love they will simply read past it and the violence, I'm afraid they will quite wallow in it! Of course, if someone like Ron is killed off (remember the hype of the last book), things might be different, but I just can't see that happening ---- loyal readers would feel betrayed, I think, as the books haven't had sufficient markers to suggest such a thing happening. And a dark good vs. evil war, that is no different than many other books, movies, and video games my students adore. (For the last few years a number of boys have been attempting, some more successfully than others, to read Tolkien's trilogy because of the movies.)
As for older children, I suspect whether they read the new book will depend on a number of factors. First of all, what sort of readers are they now? In 1998 (when the first and second books came out in this country) I had a small group of boys and one girl HP enthusiasts; they are finishing up 8th grade this year. The girl I know is looking forward to the newest book. She has read and reread the others many times. One of that group, however, I suspect may not. He is onto other things now; he reads adult books and may not be at all interested in the new book --- the buzz won't matter to him at all.
Then there are our 7th graders. These children came into my 4th grade classroom in the fall of 1999 either having read all the books (there were 3 out by then) or lugging them in to read. I was particularly concerned about children for whom the books were too difficult, but wouldn't admit that because it felt as if EVERYONE had to read them. And then I was amused to watch girls who were reading them purely because they were the hottest thing. These were girls who would otherwise have been reading a very different sort of book: Naylor's Alice books, Danziger/Martin's epistolary books, or Cabot's Princess Diaries. After a few weeks, I convinced most of them that they could take breaks and read other books and soon the Harry Potter books sat in their cubbies and did not move until the end of the year. Unless it is again considered the height of 8th grade fashion, those girls are not likely to tackle the new book. The boys who loved it (and that year they were all boys, no girls at all) are, however, another story. One boy still drops by for me to give him books I think he will like. (Most recently I gave him Hearn's Across the Nightingale Floor and The Thief Lord, both of which he liked.) He will definitely read it as will, I'm sure some of his friends.
I worry most about my incoming 4th graders, those who are finishing 3rd grade right now. The fantasy buffs have probably read all the others and will have no trouble devouring the new one. But what about those that are simply pulled into them again because of the hype? Again, I will have to convince them next fall that their place in society will not be destroyed if they chose not to read the Harry Potter books.
I like the Harry Potter books, very much in fact. They are great fun to read. However, the publication of the last three books has resulted in a tsunami of testimonials by adults to the effect that the books do everything except slice bread. They are evidently THE books for turning boys onto reading. Teachers who claim to dislike fantasy will announce that THESE books are different. Parents speak of their five year-olds who beg and beg for these amazing, extraordinary, and remarkable books.
Come on. These books, so to speak, have to put their pants on one leg at a time just like the rest of us. They are good; I like them. But there are plenty of other books that turn boys on to reading. And those fantasy-haters might try to be a bit more open to all books and then they might discover other fantasies that equal or even, gasp, surpass these. And maybe, just maybe those parents should consider reading Winnie The Pooh to their five year-olds at their usual bedtime instead of standing with them outside a bookstore at midnight come June 21.
Monica
Monica Edinger The Dalton School New York NY edinger at dalton.org monicaedinger at yahoo.com
Received on Sun 08 Jun 2003 07:44:20 AM CDT
