It’s even better reading it alongside your child.
Honestly it’s often my favorite time of the day – between 7 – 7:20 p.m., when I get to lay down next to my son in bed and read a chapter of Harry Potter alongside him. It’s like getting to share a really good dream with somebody, which never really happens. I’ve read the whole Harry Potter series through maybe 3 times by myself now and, despite what some other writerly folks think, I still find them magical, engaging, funny, heart-felt and sincere. I told Jasper how a friend’s child is expecting to get a letter when she turns 11 saying she’s admitted into Hogwarts, and Jasper’s eyes opened wide. “Will that really happen?” he asked. I said who knows. Maybe there are some underground wizardry schools out there and we simply haven’t been invited to them yet. I’d like to live in the world, or have my son live in that world, where such a thing could happen.
We’re on the fourth one right now – Harry and the Goblet of Fire — the last one before the books get very very dark. Jasper loves how long it is (734 pages!). This is a great book to read alongside more adult literature like Alice McDermott’s Someone, which is what I’m doing now. Harry Potter reminds me why I love reading (it’s fun, it’s wild, it can transport you to better worlds and into the lives of people more interesting than you) while Someone reminds me of why I love reading in a different way (it’s beautiful, it’s lyrical, and it proves every life, even our own small lives, can be fascinating in quiet ways).
- Tags:
- harry potter,
- first grade reading