Alright, I can tell you're already thinking one of three things:

1. WHAT DO YOU MEAN HAVEN'T READ THESE BOOKS YET?!?!?!?!?!?!?
2. Aren't you a little old to be reading these books? *insert eye brow raise here*
3. What does Pt. One mean? *insert quizzical expression here*

Okay, everyone settle down, I'll answer everything in turn. To answer the first question... I'm not very good with very popular things.  When something hits world wide status and everyone loses their minds over it, I immediately become very skeptical. I walk around it and wonder things like: Why is it so popular? Should it be this popular? Is it really that good or is everyone just agreeing with everyone else to be cool? These are thoughts that spin around my mind for anything that is overly popular. 

So this is the reason I'm reading it now, in my old age, because it took this long to decide that I wanted to read it. I realize these are children's books but if I have never mentioned it before I do love juvenile fiction. Also, I believe that you can't force yourself to read a book if you are really going to enjoy it (When I was in college, there were so many books I couldn't even like because I had to rush through them for assignments).

To answer your final question, Pt. One means literally Part One... because I was only able to read the first three books before I hit a snag in my plan. The plan was this: The movies are over, therefore everyone who likes them would have read them/owned them by now. Right? Wrong. I'm waiting for the library to call my and say that the 13 year-old boy (this is who I imagine it is), who has been taking forever to read the next book, has finally returned it. However, if he reads the book after that I may be waiting for much longer than I expected. And if you have ever been stuck in the middle of a series you know how painful waiting can be...

I'm assuming you are still reading and are thinking something along the lines of: "Is the review even in this blog post?!?" You're in luck it starts. right. now!

I started reading these books with a general idea of how the story went. I may have avoided them because of their popularity but I'm not totally out of the loop. I also saw the first four movies. Not that movies are anything like the books they claim to be based from. However, while read I was reminded of things I has seen and was surprised at least the first three were done fairly well. 

When I started reading the books I was instantly struck with two thoughts: 1. I couldn't believe how well they were written for young kids and 2. I couldn't believe how British they were. 

Again, I do realize they are written for a younger audience but sometimes books that include magic can be written poorly. The images that we have in our minds of witches and wizards can take a variety of forms. It's almost Halloween so I see cheesy and slightly scary wart-faced, green-skinned witches in every store. Wizards are almost always portrayed as old men with blue robes and a pointy hat. J.K Rowling does an excellent job of shedding those old images with new ones, where witches are just female wizards who are very bright and wizards can be young boys with lightning bolts on their foreheads or have bright red hair.

Because I had seen the movies, I was already aware that the books were set in England but I just wasn't prepared because... I love British humor in it's dry witty form. I laughed so hard at certain parts. The books were also funny because they reminded me of my childhood. Would I scarf down on jelly beans and think exploding things with firecrackers was fun? You bet. 

Maybe I don't have an evil villain out to get me because I defeated him before I could form a sentence but that's what books are for, to stretch our imagination. There is good and evil in this world and kids are aware of this fact as well. Having books that show good overcome evil, where the kid is the hero, helps us understand that evil doesn't have to win just because you are young. J.K. Rowling also outlines in her books that friendship, loyalty and love are good to have on your side if your planning on defeating evil. 

So if your interested in these books give them a read. If you're not sure about them, take your time and do your research. I did. If you have any questions about them (the first three) comment below or send me an message in the For Me? section. Oh, and maybe take all the books out from the library at once so your not stuck in the middle... Pt. Two to come as soon as it can! 

The Wakeful Dreamer 



10/14/2011 09:01:52 am

Thanks for this Sis! I love the part where u said, "Evil doesn't have to win because you are young." Brilliant! Keep it up! Love -little bro

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