Harry Potter for Kids?

[Flarityxx18]

The topic came about when I was trying to find Inkheart in the bookstore, and it turns out I was looking in the wrong section. It was in the Independant Reader section, for ages 8 - 12. Harry Potter was in there too.

I honestly don't understand what Harry Potter is doing in the kids section. There's just as much violence in Deathly Hallows as there is in an R-rated horror movie (okay, maybe that's a bit of an exaggeration, but you get what I'm saying). And, also, what I found weird was that Twilight was in the Young Adult section. Harry Potter is much darker and scarier (in some aspects) than Twilight, and yet, they're saying it's okay for 8 year olds to read it, but it's not okay for those same 8 year olds to read Twilight. I was just talking to my friend about this, and she said she got nightmares from Chamber of Secrets when she was younger and was afraid to go near plumbing for weeks because she thought a big snake would come out of it.

And, also, when Harry Potter was made into movies, they're rated PG or PG-13. So, how come a bunch of 8 year olds can READ Harry Potter alone, but can't go see the movie alone because of content? There's as much content in the books as there are in the movies.

Your thoughts on this subject? And this isn't limited to just Harry Potter, if you want to mention another book, go ahead.  

[Galyxies]

I began reading the Harry Potter series when I was seven, but that was back when only two of the books had been released and the story lines were much... lighter. I do think that the series has gotten darker as it has progressed. To be honest, I'm hesitant about discussing this simply because while I believe the first three to be fine for children under the age of ten, the last four volumes I would advise only for teens or almost-teens to read. As for Twilight, we also have to consider that Meyer's series is focused on romance, lust, drinking blood, and has implications of sex within, as well as holding little moral value at all. This doesn't hold true for the Harry Potter series; and while there is violence, like I've said, it only seems to get bad the further you read.  

[Jedi Knight26]

I agree with Vyalias. I started reading the Harry Potter series when I was in fourth grade, so around 9 or 10. My mom wouldn't let me read it before that simply because she didn't want me running to her every five minutes asking her what the heck was going on because I don't understand it. But like she said, the first two or three are a lot less dark because it's the beginning and Harry and his friends are also still very young. But as they get older, as the series goes on, it gets to be a lot more violent and such. I would say that kids around the age of 8 or so (basically elementary school age) would be fine to read the first two, maybe the third book. But for the fourth, fifth, sixth, and seventh I'd say younger kids shouldn't read them unless their parents say it's alright. And again, I also agree with Vyalias about Twilight, because it does have a lot of mature content in it.  

[Flarityxx18]

Well, I should've clarified, I do understand that the first two aren't as dark and scary as the last five. I guess it would be kind of confusing for people to put the first two in the kid's section, then the last five in the young adult section.

And, pardon me, but I really don't understand the whole "mature content" in Twilight. When I was reading it, I found it just to be a cheesy, vampire love story. The only sexual references I remember are when Edward invited Bella over to his room alone, and Bella thought he meant he was going to have sex with her, and the honeymoon. And then the whole "you're my personal brand of heroine" thing. But, those are the only mature themes I found in the books, and they were only said once, it's not like the whole book dwelled on them. But, I could be wrong, I haven't read the books in a while.