The book IT??

Question

At what age is ok to let a child read the book IT by Stephen King? My son is 10 and he REEEEALLY wants to read it. I've only seen the movie and he's seen the movie too.

Answer

From what I've heard, the book has more graphic depictions of mature content than the movies (due to regulations and what not) if you think hes mature enough to handle that then go ahead but personally I think 10 may be a little young.

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The vocabulary and descriptiveness will be enough to bore a child by chapter two. But if they are willing I’d say more power to them! It takes a lot to finish a book that size at that age.

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So I'm an English teacher in a middle school. If I were you I would read the entire book first then decide. (You don't want to say its ok and then have to take it back.) Honestly some of the graphic violence scenes are bad, but maybe not that horribly far outside of what's in the movie. For me I would be concerned about the sexual stuff. They are young kids and there are several overly violent sexual parts that could be potentially scarring for a young child. (Entire story lines that had to be cut from the movie because it would no longer qualify for the R rating.) If you do a quick Google search you can find some of the descriptions... But honestly I know high schools that don't have that book available because of the content. Only you can make that call, but make sure you know all of what's there first.

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Eh, let him read it if he thinks he wants to read the whole thing lol. Kids are pretty good self-regulators. If he gets bored or uncomfortable by something it's likely he'll quit reading it.
But I'm more in the camp of "if they'll read it let 'em read it" since it can be so hard for kids to find books they like once they get older.

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Nope. Graphic violence and disturbing imagery aside (which is a no from the get go for me), there is a lot of psychological stuff and sexuality. The main kids all have sex with the girl near the end of it, and her father attacks her because he wants to see if she’s still a “virgin,” though it’s clear he has other motives. She gets away, but that’s a hard no for us. I think there’s also a scene where she sees a disturbed boy (who catches the neighbors’ pets and sticks them into refrigerators at the dump) give a handjob to the bully, but I’m not sure if I’m getting two different books mixed together. I used to like reading horror, and most of King’s stuff is sprinkled with either sadistic, or sexual (or both at the same time) parts that don’t really pertain to the main storyline.
Steven King’s books are usually far worse than the movie versions, and frankly, seeing the movie should make it clear it is not a story appropriate for kids.

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My brother was around 11-12yr when he tried to read IT, he didn’t get very far into it before literally throwing it across the room and yelling “nope!”. The book is much more graphic than the movie, because movies always cut so much out.

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Maybe get a copy & read it first or stay a chapter or two ahead of him & read it with him. I feel like only you as his Mom can really say if he's mature enough for some of the stuff in the book. Stephen King can get pretty graphic gore wise & sexual theme wise in some of his books. I haven't read IT in a while so I don't remember everything in it, but in general, he doesn't really hold back.