A Summer of Harry Potter

It’s actually kind of interesting for me to think back on this. When the boy was about 5 and the lass about 4, I read them the entire 1st book of the Harry Potter series. They were both intrigued by it and even more so after seeing the movie.

And that’s where things stayed for several years.

The Wife and I stuck to our guns on the matter of the movies- we would not let them watch the movies until they had completed the books. The boy made several attempts at starting the 2nd book, but it wasn’t until the beginning of this past school year when he finally managed to keep at it. It was during a martial arts tournament in March that he finally finished the 2nd book and also started the 3rd.

I also remember back in May when he started the 4th book, The Goblet of Fire. He was a little intimidated by the 700+ page count. He figured it would take until the end of the Summer for him to finish it. The Wife and I told him, there was no rush and whenever he finished it would be fine.

He finished it shortly after school got out.

He finished The Order of the Phoenix a month-and-a-half later, and then the Half Blood Prince he finished this past Saturday. He finished The Deathly Hallows today- he could barely put it down.

Talking with him about it, he didn’t retain all of the details and he missed some things as well. I suppose that’s to be expected for a 9-year old reading big books like the final few were. Still, in some respects it’s too bad because there are a lot of details that make the story more enjoyable. Perhaps some day he’ll go back and re-read the series.

The best part, though, was a question he asked shortly after he’d finished The Deathly Hallows. “What story should I read next?” he asked.