From: Almagor, Lelac <LAlmagor>
Date: Tue, 9 May 2006 13:15:55 -0400

Susan, I do think that the Harry Potter books are popular with a wide range of child readers in part because they are straightforward. I want to distinguish, though, between simplicity and shallowness.

The Potter books certainly are simple; Rowling mostly skips to the good bits, and the first three, especially, feature a very tight narrative focus. I think kids like that every page will reward them with plot developments. They feel like they're "getting somewhere," especially if reading is hard or slow for them.

I think you could also legitimately argue that the books are shallow, that Rowling avoids indirection, subtext, ambiguity, "levels," and that when she attempts these she does not do particularly well. But -- maybe I'm too optimistic about my kids' tastes -- I don't think that absence is what attracts kids. They do adore books like Coraline which are simple, in the sense of pared-down, but also very subtle.

My own inner ten-year-old says that the difficulty with novels like The Dark Is Rising is not that they are deep but that they are sort of boring. One of the great joys of children's literature, for me, is the much greater pressure on the author to get in, tell a story, and get out again. (And the more I read aloud to kids, the more I appreciate narrative economy; I hate knowing that I could easily skip the next couple paragraphs.)

Ms. Lelac Almagor Grade Five English Writing Center National Cathedral School for Girls www.ncsforgirls.org/lalmagor/ lalmagor at cathedral.org 202-537-2312
Received on Tue 09 May 2006 12:15:55 PM CDT