Harry Potter...More than a "Children's" Book

Rating: 10/10 (16 November 2005)

As a graduate student in education, I have found Harry Potter to be excellent pieces of literature to utilize in the study of different topics featured in social studies. Not only does Harry Potter provide teachers with suitable material to teach about discrimination (Civil Rights Movement), slavery (The Civil War), and genocide (Holocaust), but he also allows children to digest lofty concepts that would have traditionally been left to the college professors and adults.
Critics of Harry Potter need to understand that JK Rowling did not create the series with the intention of keeping to the children's literature circuit. It is obvious, when studying the Harry Potter series that she had more than a simple story in mind. With her background in languages, she has developed a hero that is Christ-like, and a story that is more biblical than Christian nay-sayers would like to admit. To ignore the popularity of Harry Potter based solely on the ticket sales and its position on the best seller's list would be doing this incredible epic a disservice.
I will forever defend Harry Potter (the books and the movies), because I have seen students who would never think of picking up a book, read during their lunch period while their friends socialized and gossiped...thanks to Harry Potter. Rowling has created a fantasy world worthy of Tolkien; her masterpieces must be recognized for the amazing educational value they hold for children and adults alike. To say they are ONLY for children defies what Rowling intended for her books to be...they are the books of our generation that will forever mark our society's history.