Re: Is this book appropriate for 4th graders?


"Clisby" <clisbyw@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote in message
news:_pkEh.3804$PL.1716@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
By no stretch of the imagination are the Harry Potter books
"grown-up" books (if you mean aimed at grown-ups.)

No, I meant it in the same way as a kid in diapers might mean "grown
up underpants." That is, that when the more advanced kids, like you
and Enigma and Boo, start reading more mature books, it can set up a
competition in the school. Other kids who are reading more at, or
below their grade levels can come to think of the books they're
reading as "baby books," and want to read the more "grown up" books
that their friends are reading. I've even had the experience with my
children where they want me to check out what they really *want* to
read from the public library because they're afraid they'll be teased
about it in school.

So, once again, my point. Sometimes kids feel pressured to read above
their ability level. I think that's a shame, and yes, can lead to
giving up on it altogether.

I'm sure there are 3rd graders who can't read them, or can't
understand them - but plenty can.

I dunno -- my son is in the third grade, and I feel confident that
none of the kids in his reading group (half the grade) could. So I
think that it depends on your definition of "plenty."

IMO, if they want to read it, can read it, and understand it enough
to get something out of it, then they should be reading it. Heck,
my daughter read as much of that Boxcar Children trash as she could
get her hands on. I didn't tell her she shouldn't, any more than
I'd tell a teenager not to read a romance novel.

I've never said to forbid anyone from reading anything.

Bizby


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