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I remembered reading ages ago that women buy 80% of fiction and while I was looking to check I hadn't dreamt that, I stumbled upon another little nugget. It's a few years old now, but it's still amazing.
In a survey from Scholastic, 41% of girls and 61% of boys agreed with the statement "I didn't read books for fun before reading Harry Potter".
That's a huge number of kids who've reading habits have changed because of JK Rowling. One of many brilliant things about that woman.
Anyway, this is the article I found both those stats in:
https://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=14175229&t=1631950441770
The Harry Potter books were a big motivator for me to want to read by myself at all when I was young! I COULD read, but I didn't see the point in it. My mom started reading them to me when I was young, but she would only read a few pages per night. I wanted to know what happened and started reading to myself and have been a voracious reader ever since.
This was me too. My dad read them to me when I was really young and I was frustrated that I had to wait until bedtime to hear what happened next. So then I decided to "steal" the books from his office and read them myself when he wasn't home.
I would actually cover my tracks because I though he'd be angry I was reading them without telling him. I felt like I was stealing something. Of course, he wasn't actually angry when he found out, lol.
We started reading Harry Potter books outloud together as family when I was 8. I grew up waiting excitedly for each new one to be released and these were the first big adventure books I read on my own. I probably would have been a big reader anyway, but these books were a huge part of my childhood and teen years.
JKR has honestly created one of the greatest worlds in fiction to date. I’d never read the books but just recently, as an adult, I finally watched all of the movies for the first time and I was blown away. I ordered a complete set of the books right after and you bet I look forward to reading them when they come in the mail. It’s crazy how her talent goes beyond mediums and age groups. That’s not something just anyone can accomplish.
You're in for a treat because the books are genuinely 100 times better than the films. Enjoy reading them!
I'm not a Potterhead but the Harry Potter series will always hold a special place in my heart. I remember being 6 years old and proud that I read the Chamber of Secrets all by myself. I re-read the series every 2 years or so because it makes me feel so nostalgic.
Thank you for sharing this! My nephew just finished the Harry Potter series and it turned him into a reader. I'm researching what to books to send him next to sustain his love of reading. He's 9 if anyone has any suggestions for books to read next...
When I was that age I also loved Idhun Chronicles (a trilogy by Laura Gallego), The Guardians of the Time (a trilogy by Mariane Curley) and Neverending Story by Michael Ende (all his books are gold). The three of them includes magic and the characters are young.
Many thanks! I will send him these. Thank you for the recommendations.
That's why I respected her so much before this. While I was never a fan of the books, they made so many kids develop a love of reading. That's a massive accomplishment.
She's a hero for tons of kids around the world. She not only helped them loving books, but also saved so many days from boredom, so many marginalized kids from sadness at least for some hours, and with something healthy and good for them. I respect authors who focus on kids and teenagers very very much.