Wednesday, August 19, 2009

Harry Potter Challenge: Harry Potter and the Philospher's Stone (1997)

I still remember my mom telling me about this great children's book she had heard about and how I should get it for my boys. So I got ahold of it somehow, and started reading it aloud to my oldest. He loved it! And by the time the second one came out, he was hooked and able to read on his own. I credit the Harry Potter series to my oldest son's love of reading, and his proficiency in reading in English.

So for me, re-reading Philospher's Stone was very nostalgic. I love the feeling of how new everything is for Harry and the wonder of finally discovering a place where he really feels he belongs, after all the mistreatment he has received at the Dursleys. The affection he gets from Hagrid, his new friendships with Ron and Hermione, his search for knowledge about his parents, make this in fact, a romantic story.

And then of course, there is all the adventure, mystery and danger... but with the satisfying wind up at the end of the year banquet, where everything seems to work out in the end. Totally appropriate for ten year old readers. What I think is brilliant about J.K. Rowling's plan for the books is how they get progressively longer, darker, and more grown up, right along with Harry himself and his friends...and the readers themselves.

4 comments:

Anonymous said...

I am doing the challenge too and I am thrilled to read them all again! I loved these books and I too had bought them originally for my sons.... and then, I was reading them faster then they were!

Anonymous said...

I am doing the challenge too and I am thrilled to read them all again! I loved these books and I too had bought them originally for my sons.... and then, I was reading them faster then they were!

Anonymous said...

I am doing the challenge too and I am thrilled to read them all again! I loved these books and I too had bought them originally for my sons.... and then, I was reading them faster then they were!

Amy said...

I'm reading them for the first time. How cool that they bring back memories of your son!