Narnia.... too scary for 4.5 year olds?

[Papa Deuce]

The movie looks great from the trailer I saw, but may be too intense for kids that young. What do you think? BTW, I just bought the kids the boxed set of books. I hope to start reading them to them at bed time. I guess I need to check out if they will evn be over there heads.

 

[ASFCurly]

The movie is actually The Lion, The Witch, and the Wardrobe, sorry, slight pet peeve, it isn't Narnia, and Chronicles of Narnia is the series, not the movie, there are a total of 7 books in the series. I love the series, but the only one you should have to read to prepare for the movie would be The Lion, The Witch, and The Wardrobe, that is what the movie is based on. I suggest reading it to the child and seeing what you think, as well as they react to it.

 

[Free4Life11]

My guess is that it will be PG rated, but I am sure it will have some frightening scenes. I think the books are on a 3rd-4th grade reading level.

 

[golfgal]

These books are actually at a 6th grade reading level according to the accelerated reading program. How do your girls do with Harry Potter movies? I would guess they will be similar to those as far as freight factor.

 

[MerryPoppins]

I suggest reading the books and then decide. My family loves the Narnia books.

 

[remyandhollandsmommy]

I plan to take Remy and would take Holly but she is going through a not able to sit through a half hour cartoon let alone a movie stage LOL. I am HOPING they plan on doing all the books into movies. We are reading them again at bedtime to prepare for the movie.

 

[Free4Life11]

These books are actually at a 6th grade reading level according to the accelerated reading program. How do your girls do with Harry Potter movies? I would guess they will be similar to those as far as freight factor.

Really? I got them when I was in third grade. Guess I was just ahead of the pack

 

[DisneyArk]

These books are actually at a 6th grade reading level according to the accelerated reading program. How do your girls do with Harry Potter movies? I would guess they will be similar to those as far as freight factor.

Really? My DS is in 2nd grade and he is reading them to DS5. I didn't realize they were recommended for 6th grade.

IMHO, these books are not as scary as the last few Harry Potter books. I read them in elementary school and loved them!

 

[Papa Deuce]

The movie is actually The Lion, The Witch, and the Wardrobe, sorry, slight pet peeve, it isn't Narnia, and Chronicles of Narnia is the series, not the movie, there are a total of 7 books in the series. I love the series, but the only one you should have to read to prepare for the movie would be The Lion, The Witch, and The Wardrobe, that is what the movie is based on. I suggest reading it to the child and seeing what you think, as well as they react to it.

I knew that.

 

[Papa Deuce]

These books are actually at a 6th grade reading level according to the accelerated reading program. How do your girls do with Harry Potter movies? I would guess they will be similar to those as far as freight factor.

Ahh. Good point. They have only seen one but they liked it!

 

[barkley]

i would also base a decision on how sensitive a child is before taking them. if the movie is true to the first book there will be a great deal of emotional involvement in the character "aslan", and what occurs with his character could be very upsetting to a young child (it is my hope that the producers have chosen to fully explore the context of the circumstances and the ultimate meaning).

there is an excellent series of narnia tapes produced by "wonderworks family movies"-they did several of the books in the series and stayed quite true. these were made for younger viewers and i have shared my copies with several teachers to use in conjunction with reading the books to their classes. you might want to check these out first (an steer away from the animated versions-these are terrible chop jobs of the books).

 

[golfgal]

Really? My DS is in 2nd grade and he is reading them to DS5. I didn't realize they were recommended for 6th grade.

IMHO, these books are not as scary as the last few Harry Potter books. I read them in elementary school and loved them!

You are looking at them as the books, movies are quite different. My kids have no problems reading the Harry Potter books, Lord of the Rings, Narnia, etc. The movies are a different story. It is one thing to make up the scenes in your mind, it is another thing to see them on the big screen. The first 3 Harry Potter books are not that scary either, but the 3rd movie creeped ME out.

The books are written at a 6th grade level but remember not everyone reads at grade level. DS10 was reading the Harry Potter books in 1st grade and they are written at an 8th grade reading level. There are kids in their 5th grade class that struggle with the Magic Tree House books that are at a second/third grade level. The reading level grades are an AVERAGE.

 

[phillybeth]

It depends on how badly they have been scarred by not being able to be princesses

Actually I've never read the books so I don't know.

 

[HappyMommy2]

I too wonder how intense the movie will be. I am looking forward to seeing it and will preview it before taking my DS5.

I love all the Chronicles of Narnia books. My mom read them all to us multiple times over the years, at bedtime. What sweet memories. My Grandma lived in a house with a walk-through closet and we used to play Narnia in there all the time! However, I do remember being very scared of the evil wolf in The Lion, The Witch, and The Wardrobe. But that was when I was really little. I look forward to reading these books to my kids when they are 7 or 8 years old.

 

[golfgal]

I too wonder how intense the movie will be. I am looking forward to seeing it and will preview it before taking my DS5.

I love all the Chronicles of Narnia books. My mom read them all to us multiple times over the years, at bedtime. What sweet memories. My Grandma lived in a house with a walk-through closet and we used to play Narnia in there all the time! However, I do remember being very scared of the evil wolf in The Lion, The Witch, and The Wardrobe. But that was when I was really little. I look forward to reading these books to my kids when they are 7 or 8 years old.

Oh, now I have to get the kids to read Lion, Witch and the Wardrobe. We have a walk-in attic too. I KNOW they would love to play that-the twins anyway. A good friend of our's son played Edmund in the local college production of Lion, Witch and the Wardrobe last winter. He would have lines down cold for that game.

 

[DisneyPhD]

I loved the books growing up. I was a bit older then. I have always loved C.S Lewis. I am really exctied that they are making a high quaility movie on it.

We took my 4.5 year old DD to see chicken little and in all actuallity that was too instense for her. However it was fast moving and she sat for it ok. LWW might be long too (there is a lot of story to cram into it.)

I think I will wait and let DD see it on DVD, that way we can just turn it off if we want. (mine is rather senstive.)

When Charlie and the Cholate factory came out DH started reading the book to DD. We figured after we read the book, saw the old moive on DVD if she still wanted to we would take her. She lost interest and we stopped halfway through the book. Will try it again later when she gets older.

BTW I think there is some very good LWW Narina picture book (rather cartoon like) books out there. I had them before for my nieces and nephews, but I don't know where they are now. They were young age approrate and the art work was great. They were true to the actual story also.

 

[jlaspoq]

i would also base a decision on how sensitive a child is before taking them. if the movie is true to the first book there will be a great deal of emotional involvement in the character "aslan", and what occurs with his character could be very upsetting to a young child (it is my hope that the producers have chosen to fully explore the context of the circumstances and the ultimate meaning).

I absolutely agree. Many kids read these books in 3rd & 4th grade, and they are written for children. But you need to decide how your child will react to seeing the images on the screen. The Aslan scene has the potential to be very intense if done well - and the more the child understands the context and meaning, the more invested they will be in that character. (My daughters cried over this part just reading the book - and I think that is a perfectly appropriate reaction - I did too!) Also, there should be some fight scenes if they're true to the book.

I gave these book sets to each of my girls around 4th grade, and they are among their very favorite. Plus I have my own set!

Can't wait for the movie - we will definitely go. We watched some tapes that we did not care for - way too cheesy, and the actors were all wrong. Hope this is better!

 

[mrsv98]

DD - 5yo - LOVED The Lion, The Witch and the Wardrobe however, I did edit a bit when it came to the part where Aslan was "killed". She has watched the trailer and that was fine, but I think DH and I may see it first and then decide. We can always wait for the DVD and then skip the scariest parts.