Witchcraft and Wizadry: J.K. Rowling

By Jonathan Berohn

With the buzz for the new Harry Potter movie (Number 3 in the series—Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban) starting to grow louder and louder, it seems like a good time to return to the source for a closer look at all of J.K. Rowling’s titles.

Potter Mania

As most of you are surely aware, Rowling’s Harry Potter has become an international literary phenomenon. Kids and adults all over the world eagerly await each new tome from her hand (and tome, indeed, many of them are; some coming in at over 800 pages) and can’t get enough of all things Harry. The focus of this review is not to convince you to go out and buy Harry Potter books. There’s a pretty good chance that most of you who are interested already have. Instead, I’m going to look at little more closely at how and when to introduce new readers to the Harry saga.

Introducing Young Readers

My wife and I started reading the books to our son and daughter at 4 and 6 respectively. Six is a great age for introducing your kids to Harry Potter. My daughter was well into the magic and monsters theme before we even began, and another series of stories with kids as heroes and heroines was right up her alley. As for my son, four is pushing it a little bit, but he did very well.

If you’ve been reading to your kids since birth they should be able to handle Harry Potter at four or five for a few reasons. One, The first book, Harry Potter ad the Sorcerer’s Stone, checks in at a very manageable 309 pages. Second, the chapters are all relatively short—half an hour of reading time or less. Third, Rowling is a great storyteller—she keeps things moving along.

I would say that the same assessment holds true for the second and third volumes, Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets, and Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban. By the end of book 3, however, and ominous trend for the very young starts to appear—Rowling starts to get infatuated with her own writing, and the books start to take off in size. While Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban wraps up at just over 400 pages, book 4 (Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire) checks in at over 700, while book 5 (Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix) tops 800! Yes, 800—for a kids book. My daughter—7 by this time—had little trouble staying interested. My 5 year old lost patience fairly quickly. I would suggest waiting to 7 or 8 to before venturing past book 3 to make sure your kids have the attention span for Rowling’s explosion of length.

Books and Movies

As a final note, I would definitely suggest reading the books to your kids before taking them to see the movies. It helps them both remember that what they are seeing is pretend, and makes the monster scenes a little less scary. I know from attending the films with friends that it is no fun to have to leave early with a terrified kid who is overwhelmed by the movie. My kids, on the other hand, knowing the story id from a book they read, have never gotten anything but enjoyment from the films.