2009

My kids had no interest in reading on their own, and no interest in the Harry Potter books. My husband and I have read the books several times and loved them (of course), and we knew that the kids would, too. One evening, I told the boys, “We are going to read the first Harry Potter book together.” They argued a little that they had seen the movie and didn’t want to read the book. After the second chapter, they begged us to read every night.

My eleven-year-old son, who had never attempted to read a long book, began taking the book to bed with him every night. He stayed up until the wee hours every night, head buried in a book, reading on to the second and then the third book. In three months, he read all seven books. When he finished the final book, he immediately picked the first one up and started reading it again.

In the meantime, I continued to read the series aloud every night with the kids. We have had such a great time reading the books together, commenting on the characters and discussing what will happen next. We also enjoy discussing how the movies differ from the books. Every time we finish a book in the series, we watch the movie right after, which is fun. Oh, and just to let you know, my younger son and I both agree that the Goblet of Fire is the best book in the series.