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You are here: Home / Books / Reading Harry Potter

Reading Harry Potter

January 21, 2008 by Paul Banas Leave a Comment

My seven year old turns eight in March. Many of her 2nd grade classmates, especially the boys, have already read most if not all the Harry Potters, and have even seen all the movies. Over the holiday break, I suggested to my daughter that we finally break into

Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone (Book 1) and see what all the fuss was about. Lost as she usually is in books about princesses or American Girl dolls, she wasn’t too interested. By the second chapter though, she was hooked. At every occasion, she begs for me to read Harry Potter to her, and many of our conversations are reviews of the plot and mystery. She even reads to me as well, and some times will advance a chapter or two without me when the suspense gets too great.

As a dad, I’d say the books are marginally good. They are not “great” fiction, but are well-written and creative enough to hold an older person’s interest. The big draw, I now realize, though, is the wonder of watching your child have their first real immersive literary experience. My daughter can imagine this world, all through our reading it together.

We’ve now watched the movie together as well, and I’ve been happy that most of my character name pronunciations were correct. I also did a pretty good impersonation of Hagrid, a giant, who has the most distinctive accent so far.

I’ve been told that the tales get “darker” as they go along, with plenty of betrayal and violence. We’re proceeding cautiously at this point, which will increasingly become a challenge, as my daughter asks every afternoon when she gets home from school, “Can we read just a little bit?.” As dads of daughters can attest. it’s always hard to say, “no.”

Filed Under: Books

About Paul Banas

Paul Banas is happy married dad of two great kids living in San Francisco. He writes now about kids, new technology and how the two interact for GreatDad.com and for Pregnancy Magazine (pregnancymagazine.com) where he is also the publisher.

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Great Dad Talks is a series of conversations with experts on all aspects of the family adventure. With the perspective that “dads don’t always think like moms,” our mission is to support dad voices and our slightly different approaches to parenting. We’ll try to find solutions to every day challenges like getting kids off the couch and making STEM classes available for both boys and girls. But we’ll also tackle bigger issues when they come. The one main theme will be to support dads in the most important role of their lives that of being a great dad. Connect with us at greatdad.com and watch the video version of these podcasts at YouTube.com/greatdadnews

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