Category: Harry Potter

For my daughter, Harry Potter and The Sorcerer’s Stone is a two-pillow book. It’s the longest one she’s tackled so far at age 7. The heavy hardcover from her school library inspired her to grab two giant-sized throw pillows on the sofa—one for underneath her, and one for underneath the book. Reading a book this “big” (in size and reputation) is indeed a big deal for a second-grader, and the Potter series is a major topic of discussion among her schoolmates.

This takes me back to my own childhood. As a kid, reading seemed so much more immediate, vivid, and momentous. The tropes and plot turns were all fresh and new. Children take longer to read each page, and their memories are better. I’m afraid that these days, I’m more of a speed-reader, and I don’t have the patience I once did. I’d love to regain some of that fresh, kid-like sense of discovery.

There was no Harry Potter when I was young but I did delve deeply into children’s literature. I read constantly, and I preferred historical fiction, mystery, or clever tales. My fascination with English novels started early, too. Some of my favorites were Joan Aiken’s The Wolves of Willoughby Chase and Black Hearts in Battersea. These books (and the following series) take place in a fictionalized early 19th-century England, under the reign of James III (assuming that the House of Hanover did not prevail with King George, as it did in reality). The countryside is overrun by wolves, some of whom attack the train carrying young Sylvia to meet her cousin Bonnie at Bonnie’s family estate. Escaping the wolves, the two girls face an even fiercer adversary–they are united in their fight against a truly wicked governess, Miss Slighcarp. Written in post-war England, these books are a wonderful introduction to the kind of world created by 19th-century novels. I’m thinking especially about Dickens’ novels, in which young kids face all kinds of hardships and (usually) manage to find to prevail.



I also loved many other books, and I recall vividly The 21 Balloons, From the Mixed Up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler, the Pushcart War, and The Witch of Blackbird Pond. In the magical/science fiction realm, I was absorbed by the novels of Madeleine L’Engle.

Now that my daughter is reading “real” books, I’m returning to some of my favorite young-reader fiction. That way I can give her my personal recommendations with even greater confidence. I am re-reading Joan Aiken’s books for their masterful characters, style, and atmosphere. (I am quite sure her books helped inspire later children’s novels, especially Lemony Snicket and maybe even Harry Potter himself.) Certainly, the first book is far darker than I remember, with physical violence and gunshots (directed at wolves, luckily), imprisonment, starvation, and “real” dungeons playing key roles. Not to mention the importance of life-saving geese…