From: Jonathan Hunt <jhunt24>
Date: Thu, 21 Sep 2000 00:37:33 GMT

Steven,

I have read aloud both THE GOLDEN COMPASS and HARRY POTTER AND THE SORCERER'S STONE to my fifth grade classes the past two years so I was very interested to read your comparisons. The first year I read them aloud most of my students preferred HARRY POTTER (that was the very fall it came out). One of the few students who preferred THE GOLDEN COMPASS that year expressed very eloquently the thought that the magic in HARRY POTTER was used too freely--almost without rules--to get Harry and company out of difficult situations. Whereas Lyra relied far more on her own abilities and talents
(namely lying) to get herself out of a jam. Who needs invisibility cloaks, shape-changing potions, and time-slip hourglasses when all one really needs is quick wits and a clever tongue?

The second year that I read both books was a different story. This time the majority of the class preferred not only THE GOLDEN COMPASS to HARRY POTTER, but also THE BOOK OF THREE as well (which had never gotten the reception that it did last year). I attribute this shift in attitude to the fact that HARRY POTTER is serving as a gateway to the genre of fantasy for many children (in the same way the Chronicles of Narnia did for me). Having been exposed to the conventions of the genre, children are responding more enthusiastically to other fine works of juvenile and young adult fantasy.

Jonathan :-) Get Your Private, Free E-mail from MSN Hotmail at http://www.hotmail.com.

Share information about yourself, create your own public profile at http://profiles.msn.com.
Received on Wed 20 Sep 2000 07:37:33 PM CDT