Happy Anniversary Harry Potter!

Today is the anniversary of the first Harry Potter book being published! Today my daughter also asked me if I had read Harry Potter when I was a kid. Nope! I was a teenager when it was first published in the UK and wasn't introduced to the series till my college roommates gave them to me to read.

It is pretty magical to know that my children will get to grow up with them. My daughter and I started reading them together this year. We're doing it the right way--read a book, watch the movie. It is so fun to see her reactions to story lines and plot shifts that are so familiar to me.

Harry Potter means a lot to a lot of people. And it's amazing to know how one person's imagination created a story and a world that has literally changed the world.

Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them by Newt Scamander

I came late to reading all the Harry Potter books, and so am just now getting around to reading the companion book, Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them. I love Harry Potter, but I don't think I would have read this book if it weren't for the movie version coming out in November.

The book is small and as a pretend text book, it would read a bit dry if it weren't for the bits of humor added throughout, both by the "author" and by the pretend notes written in it by Harry and his friends.

This book is definitely for Harry Potter fans, and would make a good gift for a child who already had all the Harry Potter books. The movie trailer looks really good and I'm interested to see the plot they attach to a book with no plot at all.

What about you? Are you a Harry Potter fan? What level of obsessed are you?

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Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them
By Newt Scamander (aka J.K. Rowling)
Publisher: Arthur A. Levine Books
Year: 2001
Ages: Early Reader, Middle Grade Books

Alan Rickman

This poster can be purchased at the ALA store.

I am not emotionally attached to very many actors and actresses. But as I drove home from dropping my daughter off at school today, I heard the news that Alan Rickman died. I loved him in everything, but he gets a mention here because of his role as Snape in the movie version of the beloved children's series, Harry Potter by J.K. Rowling. (You may have heard of it.)

The first thing I saw him in was Pride & Prejudice as Colonel Brandon (1995). My favorite part is when he reads aloud to Marianne played by Kate Winslet. Here's a great clip of him as Snape where he uses silence as well as he uses his voice.

Thank you for indulging my sadness at the loss of a great actor and reading advocate. Are you an Alan Rickman fan? What is your favorite role that he played?