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Bethany
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| Posted: May 05 2010 at 10:34am | IP Logged
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What ages would be appropriate to read alound Narnia? I'm ashamed to say I've never read them, but here's my chance. My husband did read them as a boy, but worries about them being frightening for our two oldest. They are almost 8 and 6 1/2. My oldest loves adventure type stories, so I think she would love them.
Any recommendations or preferences?
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Bethany
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JennGM
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| Posted: May 05 2010 at 10:50am | IP Logged
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Bethany wrote:
What ages would be appropriate to read alound Narnia? I'm ashamed to say I've never read them, but here's my chance. My husband did read them as a boy, but worries about them being frightening for our two oldest. They are almost 8 and 6 1/2. My oldest loves adventure type stories, so I think she would love them.
Any recommendations or preferences? |
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I don't have an answer, Bethany, but interested in hearing opinions. I love these, grew up with them, but I read them on my own. Dh has not read them, only seen the movies. He thinks that they have deep messages that will be missed if started too young; he also is worried about elements that might be scary. So he thinks we shouldn't read until he's capable of reading and comprehending it.
I think there are layers, so I think we're at the compromise that I won't read aloud yet, wait until he can read them on his own, and then we can incorporate them as read-alouds if he wants. Ds is an advanced reader, so I know I won't have to wait too long.
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LeeAnn
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We've read them aloud several times to all ages. I don't think they are particularly scary--Aslan's death is more solemn and sorrowful than frightening. You might need to stop and explain what is going on a few times and remind them of the happy ending (assuming they know the story or have seen the movie). The bigger problem with reading these books aloud now is that most kids don't have any frame of reference for WWII and children being sent to the countryside without their parents!  And the various British-isms that are in the book take some explaining that breaks up the flow of the story at times. I probably started reading these aloud when my kids were 7, 5 and 2, with really only the 7yo paying attention. I've read through the whole series at least once and some of the books twice. I personally used to read the whole series EVERY YEAR (before I had children!) so they are family friends here.
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JodieLyn
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Let me think.. my oldest would have been 9 when I read them outloud.. so the next one 7 almost 8, next 6 and next 4.5 yrs and on down. And I know at least the 4.5 yr old got a good portion of the story.
These books are books imo that you read over and over.. no concerns about missing something.. read them young, read them in between, read them again and again and you'll find new things every time.
But I have to say that they're WONDERFUL for read-alouds. My oldest two literally hung on every word as I was reading. 
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JuliaT
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We read the entire series last year. My oldest was 9, ds was 8 and dd was 6. They handled them just fine. In fact my youngest was the one who always picked the next one in the series when it was her turn to chose the next read aloud.
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Teachin'Mine2
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I wouldn't choose to do Narnia as a read aloud only because I think I'd be depriving them of the wonder of reading it on their own and being thoroughly captivated right up to the end. It's a great book for them to find the absolute joy in reading. Just my thoughts. 
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hylabrook1
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We read it aloud more than once. As the once-youngers reached about 7 or 8, they wanted to hear it because they didn't remember much from when they were 3 or 4 or 5. Then they read it again on their own when they are around 12. I agree that they shouldn't be deprived of the pleasure of reading it themselves, but that hasn't been a problem here.
Peace,
Nancy
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ekbell
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My oldest read them to her seven and a half year old sister when she was nine
I've found that my children that like being read to are more rather then less likely to read books that I've previously read to them.
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CatholicMommy
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I read them aloud to my son starting at age 4. Now that he's reading on his own (he's 6 but reading at 3rd/4th grade level), he will read a chapter or two at a time and then narrate the whole thing to me, telling me "I didn't know this happened!" or "That wasn't in the story last time!"
He loved them then and he loves them now - but at a different level of understanding.
Now, in our case we have a rule about reading the book before seeing any movies and being that his cousin's favorite movies are the newer versions of the Narnia movies, I knew we would have to read them aloud together before letting him to go grandma's with said cousin for 3 weeks.... So it wasn't intentional - but I think it turned out well thus far.
Also, we've not read all of the books yet - just the first half of the set.
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Fuzzy
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We did the Narnia books at about 4-5 for my kids. We used the Focus on the Family dramatized CD's for in the car listening. They loved it and we have listened to them over and over. My son is my reader, and I know he will read them soon so I have pulled out the books to accompany the story. I have started to get the full versions on CD to listen to, and the kids have enjoyed that version just as much, as did I! I LOVE those books, and I think that my kids get the comparison to Jesus, and the sacrifices. We had a few discussions about it, and I was really impressed at their questions.
Then the next question is: in which order will you read them?
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 Fuzzy
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knowloveserve
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I thought about the analogy things being missed too. But I think the books deserve to be enjoyed as just good stories without too much concern on symbolism etc.
When I read through Tolkien's LoTR books for example, (in high school) I didn't know about the analogies and symbolism. I learned that stuff as an adult... and it's only made me want to go back and read the books all over again!
Same with Narnia. I read through them all as probably an 8 year old. I enjoyed the books for what they were and didn't know about the Christianity of it all until much, much later. Then I read them again!
So I think there's something to be said, to just let the books be. They were written to be enjoyed after all.
I read the first one to my oldest when he was 6, it wasn't scary at all. We loved it. We'll be starting the whole series all over again next fall...
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Kristie 4
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We have read them 4-5 times out loud to our kids. Some of them have also read them, but mostly we have read them aloud (they are so good aloud!). We started them when oldest was 5 (and we had a 3yo and baby). Now oldest is 15 and we read them to the 9yo and 7yo. The 9yo is also reading them on his own at the same time! You can never have them too much- they are like family friends!
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HeatherS
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We've listened to the Chronicles of Narnia series (I found the complete unabridged audio set used on amazon.com at a great price awhile back) once and we're on the 2nd time through. Same with Charlotte's Web, the Secret Garden, Trumpet of the Swan, etc... Our girls are pretty little still, but I figure that beginning young w/great literature and saints bios that I know won't be too scary, etc. is like introducing them to what will become a great friend as they get older.
What I've found already w/my oldest who is beginning to enjoy chapter books, is that she is excited at the opportunity to make these books that we've read, and that have touched her mind and heart in some way (and not all have, lol), "her very own" by now being able to read them herself and to her sisters.
I'm finding too that, while they're young, they just want to get lost in the story and "know" it. I figure as they get older and mature a bit, they will come to understand the literature better, ask questions, etc., and when they're even older they will be able to delve even more deeply into the book.
Just my $.02
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Heather
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4Real Forums : Living Literature
Topic: Narnia Read Aloud Age?
