I went to this with my in-laws and my six year old son. I didn't know if it might be too trippy for him to get into. I needn't have worried, he was thrilled. There were some parts that went right over his head (but that were terrific for the grown ups) and at times it was a little violent but nothing too crazy or gory. As expected Helena Bonham-Carter and Johnny Depp were bizarre and wonderful but Anne Hathaway was a nice surprise. Lots of laughs, lots of excitement. Don't know that I'd recommend it for kids much younger than mine or for kids with a small attention span.
Having not read the book, I went in not expecting to be disappointed. Boy was I wrong. Really silly storyline and a bit preachy. That said, my five year old and his friend thought it was AWESOME. I can't say that this is one that we'll buy when it comes out on DVD because I can't bear the thought of sitting through this again.
My husband and I got to see a real grown up movie this weekend since our four year old was with the GPs. It was between this an Indiana Jones. We both love M. Night Shyamalan movies and were both really excited. This movie sucks. The story is weak, the acting is overdone. There were a lot of disturbing/scary scenes but they really added nothing to the story. The more we talked about it after the movie, the more we agreed that this story is so stupid. Go see anything else.