Potter books awaken youngsters to reading
This weekend's release of the seventh and final book of J. K. Rowling's Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows has once again created a major stir.
And I find it refreshing because it's about a book.
A printed piece.
Not a reality TV show.
Not a Web site (although the latest is that parts of the book have been posted online).
Not a cell phone.
Or Paris Hilton.
And what's even better is that this book has captured the imagination of a young audience. These are the same kids we sometimes have to pull away from the TV, computer or their cell phones. And from the very first book, Harry Potter has taken kids away from such instant-gratification devices like TV and shown them how words can paint just as vivid a picture, albeit not in HD.
The key has not only been Rowling's ability to create a story that has kept its audience wanting more, but characters that young readers have been able to identify with at some level. And considering some of the lengths of the Potter books -- 800-plus pages -- that's an amazing accomplishment.
Rowling's first six books have collectively sold more than 325 million copies and have been translated into more than 63 languages, according to Reuters. Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows' distribution is a record-breaking 12 million copies for the first print run in the United States alone, and Amazon.com already has received 1.6 million advance orders.
At a time when technology is creating so many avenues to more and more information, isn't it nice to see a book slow the world down just a bit to remind us of our roots in reading? It was books.
For me, it was the Encyclopedia Brown series. Missing the magic wand of Harry Potter, let alone as good of a movie deal, Encyclopedia Brown still created the desire to see how this whiz-kid would piece together clues to solve a case no one else could.
Though the run of these books eventually comes to an end, the fire they stoke in young readers remains, and one that should not be underplayed. Educators often point to reading as a key indicator of low or high test scores, and the Harry Potter books of the world are one key to encouraging and nurturing that skill.