Harry Potter And Literacy

Of course with 'Harry Potter and The Deathly Hallows Part I' coming out there's a lot of talk about the series coming to a definitive ending and analyzing it's cultural effect. My take.

I was a camp counselor for eight years, my first year was in 1998 when the first Harry Potter book was released in the US so I've been around kids in different aspects since the series started. The last summer I was a camp counselor was in 2005 when 'Harry Potter and The Half-Blood Prince' came out. The camp I was at was an all boys camp of about 300. I would say easily 250 of the campers had their parents ship them the book on the date of release. All down time activities were set aside for a couple days while everyone finished the book, myself included. When the last Harry Potter book was released I worked at a Barnes & Noble and worked the midnight release of the new book. My point of this being, I've been around the Harry Potter phenomenon semi-intimately since it began.

Also to get it out of the way: I'm a fan. Not a huge fan, I never went to the Museum of Science and Industry when it had its Harry Potter exhibit and I never watched any of the midnight showings of the movies BUT I'm a fan. I got all the books shortly after they were released and have read the series cover to cover about three times. One of the things I like most about it is that it's a quick read, I would call it fast food fantasy. It's not as dense as Stephen R. Donaldson or as satisfying as Gene Wolfe but thats why it appeals so broadly.

In 4th grade I discovered my reading level was almost non-existent. Our English teacher at the time required us to read a certain amount of pages per month. I found much to my surprise not only couldn't I do it but I couldn't decipher most words in most books. My parents solution was to make me go to my room and not let me come out until I finished some assigned reading. I never let on to them how behind I actually was. It was becoming a real problem until I got 'The Chronicles of Narnia.' I was a real big fan of the BBC made for TV movies and in an effort to engage my interest my mom got me the complete hardcover edition. I found reading was easy and even fun when your interested in the story. I've been an avid reader ever since.

The Harry Potter series has done this same thing but on a global scale. Hundreds of thousands potentially millions of kids have started reading because of Harry Potter. Many of whom wouldn't read at all if it weren't for the books. And one thing I've experienced and seen in the kids I've worked with- once you have an enjoyable reading experience you want more.

I realize this point has been made periodically in the past twelve years. I guess sometimes I just wish Harry Potter had hit a bit earlier so it could have effected my generation more thoroughly. Because a lot of the time when I ask someone "You read any good books lately?" they say...

Oh, I don't read.