Bridge to Terabithia *spoilers*

[Redlass]

What's a good age to introduce a child to Bridge to Terabithia?

I recently re-read the book and am planning to send it to my two nieces. However, last night one of my fellow actors said he would never let any child of his read it until the child was at least ten. (He doesn't currently have any children.) He said he read it when he was 11 and it was hard to deal with at that age.

I have another friend who has held off on introducing it to her son who is ten. However, her decision isn't based on his age, but rather on her understanding of his fears and sensitivity. Knowing the particular boy, I completely understand.

I cried through the book (though I cried more at the final chapter than I did when Leslie died), but it was still very moving and I didn't consider myself traumatized by it. Indeed, it was rather cathartic.

So, would you have reservations about giving this book to a child based on age? Based on anything else?

[hadassahchana[$]]

Bridgette,

I still haven't given it to my 14 year odl, just because he is a really sensitive kid who will be upset by it. I discussed the book a bit with him, and he wanted to hold off. I'll probably give it to #2 at an earlier age, just because of differences in personality, and I think it's most important to decide for each individual child.

Cindy

[jsgoddess]

My fifth grade teacher used Bridge as a book he read aloud to the class.

I missed the day she died, so I can't speak directly about that experience, hearing it, but I remember VERY intensely how I felt when I asked my friend Matt to catch me up on what had happened. I thought I was going to be sick.

10 or eleven may be too young. Of course, I'm still easily upset by books, so I'm not the best standard to go by.

Wonderful book, though.

Julie

[bupkiss]

I think I read Bridge when I was 10 or so. It is a very beautiful, powerful book, and I did find it to be upsetting in some ways, uplifting in other ways. I think 12+ would be a better age to read it, but I was (and still am) very sensitive.

[mtbat]

I would say 10-12 years old would be okay, I don't think younger than that-

There is another book-I *think* the name is "A Taste Of Blackberries"-which also deals with death( a little boy dies after being stung by a bee while picking blackberries) that was sad-but not on the same level as Terabithia.

That one might be a better choice if you are trying to introduce that kind of book to a young reader-but read it first and see what you think

Fridai

[quasar]

I read it when it first came out. I was sevenish. I could handle it, but I had already dealt with death in real life, and that wasn't the first book dealing with death I'd read. As everyone else has already said, I really think it's up to the child. Mature children, children who've been reading for a while (and thus have a broader band of experience), and probably children who've dealt with death in real life can handle it sooner than others.

Janice

[jenninca]

I think I first read it around age 10 or 11. I think I could have handled it even a little sooner than that, but that happens to be the age when I found it. Leslie's death did make me sad, but it wasn't traumatic or anything.

A school I worked in and a school where I taught both used it with the fifth grade classes. I didn't teach it either time, but I remember discussing it with several kids at the school where I worked (I worked in the after-school program). We had a much more intense discussion about why the author chose to use swearing than we did about the death. It didn't seem to bother them. Several kids at the school where I taught named it as the best book they read that year in the end-of-the-year survey.

So I guess what I'm thinking is to adjust for the individual kid, but on average, age 10 or 11 is about right.

Cindy