> I don't understand the instant elevation of the HP series to "all-time classic" status, and the disproportionate amount of public enthusiasm for the books.
>
> I mean, they're fairly good books, the sort of thing I read when I've got a cold and really don't want to have to think too much.
>
> But it's all a little *too* obvious.

I was delayed responding to these posts because I've been helping disassemble and reassemble Bey Blades. Which brings me to my point:

HAS EVERYONE FORGOTTEN THESE BOOKS ARE WRITTEN FOR CHILDREN??

My daughter is, I think, the target age for the HP series - eight going on nine, and a precocious reader. She loves Harry Potter, and Hermione, and Ron. She loves Hagrid, and Dumbledore, and Hedwig, and Professor McGonigle. She loathes Voldemort and Snape.

When you're a child, it helps to have your literature contain obviously identifiable good guys and bad guys. It makes it easier to figure out motivation, and predict plot development. It leads to developing skills that allow you to appreciate "less obvious" books later in life.

I should make it clear that I am not suggesting the HP series are in any way inferior books. In my opinion, they are among the finest children's books written in a generation, and easily the most enjoyable. I read the first four in the series over one rainy week last summer, (I was making sure they were age-appropriate for my daughter and was hooked myself). Good kids books don't have to offer the same things as good adult books, but they do have to be entertaining and involving. J.K. Rowling accomplishes both of these objectives.

I would bet that almost every LOTR fan on this site read The Hobbit and the trilogy before they were eighteen. That's when a love of literature is instilled. I'm thrilled that I'll soon have to buy a new copy of The Goblet of Fire. My daughter has read the book eleven times, and is going on the twelfth. By this point, she knows passages by heart. Any book that can engage a child's imagination to that point is worthy of praise.

For me, it was Anne of Green Gables. Hmmm . . . Harry's an orphan, and finds a place that accepts him. Anne was an orphan, and found a place that accepted her...

te "Of course, Anne never had a totally ruling flying broom" ach