From: Kathleen Horning <horning>
Date: Tue, 01 Jul 2003 11:59:39 -0500

Thanks to all of you thoughtful and hardy readers for sharing your impressions of the latest Harry Potter book. I can see from the discussion on authors/editors alone, we might want to consider the whole editorial process as an upcoming topic on CCBC-Net.

I can't imagine the pressures that Rowling and her publishers must face over these past few years. Sometimes I wish for her sake she'd been able to finish the series in complete (or at least relative) obscurity. I've heard Rowling comment that she doesn't consider the books to be part of a series at all but rather one long story that's been broken down into separate books for the convenience of the reader. With this in mind, it must be a tremendous challenge for her editors, or even careful readers, to make an intelligent critical analysis, not knowing what the outcome of the book will be. Whenever I see a "loose thread" in one of the Harry Potter books, I always assume it will be woven in in some future volume.

Please do continue to make your final observations about "Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix" for the rest of today, even as people begin sending out their children's literature-related announcements.

KTH

Kathleen T. Horning, Director Cooperative Children's Book Center University of Wisconsin-School of Education 4290 Helen C. White Hall 600 North Park St. Madison, WI 53706

horning at education.wisc.edu Voice: 608&3721 Fax: 608&2I33 www.education.wisc.edu/ccbc/
Received on Tue 01 Jul 2003 11:59:39 AM CDT