The trouble is that grown-ups are buying these books ostensibly to read to kids, but actually to read for themselves. Scholarly tomes will be written about the underlying motifs of the Potter series, justifying its adult readership. Steven Spielberg will slip a little social significance into his movie treatment, further furrowing academic brows. The purpose of reading, once you get the hang of it, is not merely to follow the action of a plot, but to learn about characters, explore different ideas and enter other minds. When Lewis Carroll took us through the looking glass, he dealt with madness and injustice in this world by mocking a parallel world.
Critics delight in annotating the allusions in such books.
That's the one I read, noting its nice deployment of the standard tricks. That's why my hat is off to Jerry Hall, the intelligent Texan and mother of four, divorced from Mick Jagger, who still sort of lives with her. She is reported to have cast the swing vote on the judging panel for Seamus Heaney. His creator, Ms. Rowling, deserved the lesser award she received for best children's book. But let us not exalt Potter, either, as a cultural icon.