Reading Harry Potter With A Four-and-a-half Year-old

Listenin' and Legos, Legos and listenin'.  --- Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/reading-harry-potter0/support

We read the whole book over about two weeks in December, but when I went back to check the recordings I found that chapters 2, 3, and 4 did not record for some reason. So these next three chapters are from the second time through reading (in case you notice that he suddenly knows what's going to happen later in the book).  --- Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/reading-harry-potter0/support

So we're reading the first book of a new book series, and thought you might be interested in joining us! --- Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/reading-harry-potter0/support

While visiting his grandparents he found Aunt Tori's copy of The Tales of Beedle the Bard, so he brought it home so we could read it together (thanks, Tori!).  For those who may not know, Beedle the Bard penned many popular wizarding world fairy tales, much like the Brothers Grimm did for Muggles. One of his stories plays a pivotal role in a later Harry Potter book.  --- Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/reading-harry-potter0/support

As a quick aside, if I ever had a podcast that wasn't this it would probably be called "A Quick Aside." --- Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/reading-harry-potter0/support

Bringing it on home. --- Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/reading-harry-potter0/support

We recorded this way back in February, just as schools were starting to close due to coronavirus and the idea of kindergarten-via-Zoom was still new and novel. What lives we've lived since then. --- Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/reading-harry-potter0/support

Have you ever wanted to spend 15 minutes talking through the events of a momentous Harry Potter chapter with a kindergartner while they lie in bed after reading said chapter? Well, now you can live the dream vicariously through us!  (Note: we read this chapter four months ago, before the coronavirus self-quarantining began, which is why my wife is out of the house at bedtime, helping friends who have a newborn. Listening to that detail now, months into social distancing, was jarring for me! Hey, remember when you could just go to a friend's house and hold their newborn baby all night so they could get some sleep, and it was no big deal?) --- Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/reading-harry-potter0/support

Okay, sure, Voldemort is back to full power and he and Harry just had a mind-blowing duel, but let's not lose sight of the important issues: does Harry technically still win the Tri-Wizard Cup? And will it give Gryffindor enough House points to win the House Cup for the fourth year in a row?  --- Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/reading-harry-potter0/support

In which we have SO MANY THEORIES about what the heck is happening here. --- Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/reading-harry-potter0/support

Short, but thrilling! --- Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/reading-harry-potter0/support

This chapter is so much fun. --- Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/reading-harry-potter0/support

“Never make fun of someone if they mispronounce a word. It means they learned it by reading” - Anonymous We had a sieve in our kitchen when I was growing up, but we called it a strainer. I only knew the word from reading, and in my head it rhymed with "receive." I'm afraid I've taken the first steps toward passing that mispronunciation on to my children. --- Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/reading-harry-potter0/support

Having is a kid means sometimes having to explain concepts like "blackmail" on the spot, very poorly.  --- Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/reading-harry-potter0/support

We ended this one well after bedtime,  but we still had a long and great conversation after I stopped recording. I'm sorry you couldn't hear it, but just know the wheels are turning in his head. He's really trying to figure this one out. --- Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/reading-harry-potter0/support

Seriously, this whole mystery of Mr. Crouch being "sick" is extremely suspicious.  --- Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/reading-harry-potter0/support

Do you remember how Professor Snape brought Harry to the Hospital Wing after he was almost killed by dementors in the last book? Well, five points to your House if you did! I did not immediately remember that, as you'll hear.  --- Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/reading-harry-potter0/support

Our conversation at the end of this chapter does include a minor spoiler, just FYI.  --- Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/reading-harry-potter0/support

We have a minor digression midway through the chapter as we try to solve some of the mysteries in the book. Who fired off that Dark Mark at the Quidditch World Cup, anyway? --- Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/reading-harry-potter0/support

In which I sidestep the conversation about the appropriateness of students going to the Yule Ball with teachers. To be honest, the whole concept of finding a date went over his head, but hey, he's only six. --- Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/reading-harry-potter0/support