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Pottermania and Potterism

© Virginia Marin

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Pottermania and Potterism are two new words coined by reporters to describe the current frenzy surrounding Harry Potter. Let's face it, the Harry Potter books are the best selling series for children since Nancy Drew! Though the lower elementary grades responded to the newest book in costumed droves, I remained adamant in my belief that the series was inappropriate for young children in spite of the horrendous lines of tiny feet waiting for bookstores to open...

...However, I no longer entertain that attitude. My mind was changed when I observed my young grandaughter attempting to reading Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire with Webster's Dictionary beside her!

I still maintain that most of the vocabulary is not second grade. Nor third. Nor fourth. Nor fifth--unless voraciously, introverted, wryly, groveling and aberrant have recently been added to standard lists. But, what these books--Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban, Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone, Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets and Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire-- are doing is to redefine elementary vocabulary. And that is good.

Vocabularies have fallen deplorably behind modern time zones. There are many ways teachers and parents can present advanced vocabularies and that is one reason why I am excited over Harry Potter. For vocabulary development, the books are superior.

Harry Potter falls under the aegis of folklore, for within his pages one finds fantasy, creatures, witches, fairies and warlocks. There are also biblical, mythical, legendary and fairy tale characters and all manner of little people. What's more, the reader is transported, mesmerized and entertained in a world of alchemy and wizards.

But wait a minute. Aren't these some of the very objections to Harry Potter?

Yes, but it is up to teachers and parents to identify that line between fantasy and reality with which children must come to terms. It is up to conservative parents, from which have come floods of complaints, to teach personal religious beliefs to their children. If both of these are done correctly the Harry Potter books will have no negative effects on children. Still, the Potter books contend with a banning effort.

Harry Potter has enchanted people from diverse cultures worldwide. He represents an archetypal hero who would have been as familiar to ancient Greeks and Romans as he is now to Yankees, Rednecks, Cowboys, Floridians and Canadians. Harry is hailed as a hero in England, the country of his literary birth. The Continent and the Orient have gone ga-ga eyes over Harry. Indeed, has the entire world.

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