It's possible. Harry Potter was just coming out when my son was in first grade and he devoured each book in the series as they were released. He and my husband even went to a few midnight release parties at the local bookstore. Based on the feedback from other moms and his teachers, he was an exception to the rule. He was an early reader and continues to be a voracious reader at 18.

My son who just turned 21 was reading the books by himself in second grade. In fourth grade he won a regional speaking contest with a piece he wrote about learning to love to read thru the Harry Potter books.

Max has the first editions, living in my library. He is twenty three so you do the math. Can't remember when they came out.

I do not think it is unheard of but is somewhat unusual. My oldest starting reading The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe with his class in first grade. I honestly did not feel he was ready yet,feeling that at that time reading the words was too much work to be able to appreciate the story. I will say though, that the first book of HP is a somewhat easier read than the later ones where the story becomes more complex.

I teach 5 and 6 year olds at a private school that has an accelerated program. I could see a couple of my students being able to read it by the end of next year when they'd be the age of your student, but their comprehension wouldn't be there. Are you sure she's reading it or could she be having it read to her? My dd has a girl in her class who is brilliant and was reading way ahead of her grade level, but I don't think she started on HP until grade 2 (she read "the lovely bones" in grade 4 - yikes!).

Thanks everyone. I guess I am totally out of it, I go to so many schools (as a presenter) that are mostly lower economic levels- can't recall what you call these schools- where fourth and fifth graders are reading very simple books.
Hp is more complex as it progresses, in plot and writing but still I think this girl was comprehending. She was definitely reading them, not listening to audio or having someone read them to her.
Speaking in parseltongue was a fun antic of yesterday :-)

What a great job you have Bumblebeez. It must be a blast!

Most kids are reading HP in grade 4, 5 and up, so it is definitely unusual that this girl is reading it now. I tried to read it to my DD when she was in grade 3 and she had nightmares for months. She never did go back and read the series, it left such a bad impression on her.

It's unusual, but it is possible. I know that when I was that age, I annoyed my older brother quite a bit by reading his 5th grade reading book from cover to cover, and "stealing" all his books from his bookcase to read over the summer. The public library would only let kids check out 4 books at a time, and that simply wasn't enough to last me for a whole week. My brother was *not* pleased that his younger sister was reading the same things that he was. (And for the record, the Hardy Boys and Tom Swift were much more interesting than Nancy Drew. She was always needing to be rescued by some guy. The boys were able to get themselves out of trouble.)

I've read some of the books I read at that age again, with my nieces and nephews, and while I had a fairly good memory of the plot, a lot of the little character nuances went way over my head. There's a good chance this child will read the books again in a few years and get something completely different from them.

I vote with the 'unusual' crowd that this young gal is able to read it by herself. I think it is a stretch for upper grade school students, on average from what I have seen the last 30 years working in schools. Sadly because we find a child CAN read the words, some think they are able to handle the content, comprehension, emotions, world view etc. They do not come hand in hand for "advanced" students most of the time. I do not understand the need to burden young children with teen/adult issues. I really don't. I am reminded of one of my favorite lines form one of my favorite movies 'What a child reads when young becomes a part of who they are, forever in a way no other reading later in life does." It is very true. Like the adage "We are what we eat" Our minds "are what they read". I read HP books to my son who became aware of them as a third grader. His younger sisters listened along. We discussed along the way. My son is now 21 my daughters 18 and 16. The girls still love to read FICTION, and know the differance.

I agree it is unusual, especially the comprehension piece. Sometimes, kids are good decoders and have an excellent sight vocabulary, so they are able to "word call", but don't really understand and developmentally, the higher level thinking skills just aren't there yet in most cases. It would take a fairly high IQ for a 5-6 year-old to comprehend one of the HP series fully. It is certainly possible for a very young child to read these, but I think he/she would miss a lot that could be enjoyed/appreciated more at an older age. I teach and most students are reading these in 3rd, 4th, or even 5th grade.

There's also the possibility that the little girl has seen most of the movies--that would give her a head start on the plot of the books.

I do hope she isn't going to read the last few books until she's older. They have some pretty dark subject matter.

She is a pretty intense little girl for sure. This is art camp, not school, yet I found her crying (silently) because she "messed up" her art work, which only consisted of three little marks at that point and far, far from being messed up in any way.
Those kids who could care less and had happily, sloppily, with joy, covered the page with no thought, produced a mess that got praised.