(C) ProPublica
This story was originally published by ProPublica and is unaltered.
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Don't Give Us Little Wizards, The Anti-Potter Parents Cry [1]
['Jodi Wilgoren']
Date: 1999-11-01
Parents in Minnesota, Michigan, Missouri, North Carolina and Georgia have also complained about the books.
Judith F. Krug, director of the American Library Association's office for intellectual freedom, does not deny that the chronicles of Harry's years at the Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry are all about the battle between good and evil. But she points out that at least so far, good triumphs, and responds to the critique with a question: ''What book did you read? Or did you read it at all?''
These arguments among adults have distracted attention from more curious educational quandaries: Just what is it about Harry Potter that makes boys who hate to read drop their Nintendo and open a book? How can parents and teachers capitalize on the craze and keep children reading? What differentiates these books from all the other adventure stories sitting on library shelves?
Listen to the children of well-to-do Clarence, population 20,000, where faded American flags hang from telephone poles on Main Street, and new construction mixes with homes from the town's founding in 1808.
''When you read it, the rest of your world, like reality, just goes blank,'' said Brian Heigel, 10, who is in Eric's class. ''Sometimes you can actually picture yourself with these characters, like transferring worlds. When you're all frustrated one day and you just want to rest, you could just pull out Harry Potter and just read more and more. It's kind of like being in kind of a dream.''
Alyssa Mayer, 12, has a stack of unopened books on her desk from the summer reading list, but she has finished ''Sorcerer's Stone'' as well as ''Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets'' and ''Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban.''
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[1] Url:
https://www.nytimes.com/1999/11/01/us/don-t-give-us-little-wizards-the-anti-potter-parents-cry.html
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