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| Beacham's Sourcebooks for Teaching Young Adult Fiction: Exploring Harry Potter (Not Approved by J.K. Rowling) |
| Written By Elizabeth D. Schafer |
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| From Our Editors Bookseller Reviews No, this is not the Harry Potter book. Nor is it the trivia book that will identify the song that Lockhart's dwarf sings to Harry or every Quidditch wrinkle. Instead, it a robust and well-organized guidebook for adult Muggles to the realm of Hogwarts. Intelligently written, it provides information on everything from school life to wizard history to the literary and ethical dimensions of Rowling's book. Armed with maps and a nineteen page descriptive list of character, Schater's manual will definitely not leave you with a lightening-bolt scar on your forehead. From the Publisher If you are reading, teaching, or parenting Harry Potter fans, this is the indispensable guidebook to take you behind the Potter legend, into the life of its author, and to give young readers many more hours of enjoyment beyond reading the novels themselves. Explore the origins and mysteries of Harry's world, its history, science, magic, mythology, setting, characters, themes, food, and sports. The sourcebook includes projects and activities for young readers, questions that generate lively discussion between parents and children, websites for internet research by young surfers, lesson plans for teachers, and resources for librarians. From the Critics From School Library Journal The purpose of this ambitious guide is to expand readers' enjoyment and understanding of J. K. Rowling's series by encouraging critical thinking and an exploration of the layers of meaning in the books. Unfortunately, Schafer's insights sacrifice quality and significance for quantity. The 20 chapters cover topics such as literary merit; "Pottermania"; Rowling's life; and a section on "Teaching Harry," which includes chapter-by-chapter discussion questions and vocabulary lists as well as projects and activities related to each book. Themes explored include school life, food, sports, geography, mythology, archetypes and biblical references, history, science, and magic/witchcraft. Though many associations are drawn, most are random, undeveloped statements. Readers are told that there are seven deadly sins, the number seven is used by Jews to designate perfection, and that students spend seven years at Hogwarts. The book is most useful as a reference source, particularly for its details of characters, setting, and plot and the impressive bibliography.-Edith Ching, St. Albans School, Mt. St. Alban, Washington, DC Copyright 2000 Cahners Business Information. From Booknews Guides readers of the Harry Potter series to appreciate the books' literary qualities more fully. Literary analysis of each book is followed by a brief list of activities for extending readers' enjoyment, such as projects, discussion questions, and activities for developing writing and critical thinking skills. Projects and discussion questions are designed to be incorporated into classroom lesson plans. A timeline places factual and fictional events in context with Harry Potter topics, Great Britain, and world history. Includes profiles of characters, animals, plants, and objects in the stories, and lists and briefly describes myths and legends that contribute to the novels. Schafer completed graduate courses in children's literature and creative writing at Hollins University. Annotation c. Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com) From VOYA Anyone with a love for Harry Potter will find this text intriguing. Student, teacher, librarian, and parent muggle-types can look up facts no one knew existed about Harry and his friends. Two sections stand out for teachers: "Reading Harry" and "Teaching Harry." The first will inspire them to reread the first three books. "Teaching Harry" contains overviews, chapter notes and questions, projects and activities, discussion questions, and writing topics specific to each book. All are creative and extensive. A time line follows, covering important dates—real and imaginary. Special dates relating to Harry Potter and J. K. Rowling—"July 1993 Rowling's daughter Jessica was born" or "Harry watched Sirius Black on news reports that covered his escape"—are integrated with historical events, such as the time line's first entry, "2400 B.C. Dedi, an Egyptian conjurer, performed magical illusions with animals." Highly interesting, this combination of real and imaginary is a great way to link into history. After 1992, however, only Harry and Rowling are chronicled. As thorough as this imaginative book might be, too brief mention of censorship concerns and the total omission of the role of Scholastic Press in bringing Harry to North American readers surprised this reviewer. In this hefty book, only four pages cover the censorship problems that have stopped many teachers from using Harry in their classrooms. Ironically, historical notes about witchcraft, the fuel that keeps the fires of censorship controversy over HP burning, cover eight pages. Conspicuously absent are references to Harry's U.S. publisher in the index or as a resource on any of the Web source lists. Harry's trip across the ocean andthe show business release of the books make for a good story; why not include it? 2000, Beacham, 479p, Biblio., Appendix, Index. Ages adult. Reviewer: C. J. Bott VOYA, February 2001 (Vol. 23, No.6) |
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