Harry Potter And The Philosopher's Stone

Cover Story

Harry Potter thinks he is an ordinary boy - until he is rescued by a beetle-eyed giant of a man, enrols at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, learns to play Quidditch and does battle in a deadly duel. The reason - Harry Potter is a Wizard!

We Say

Watching the news in the summer of 2000, now more than ten years ago, I saw children queuing from the early hours of the morning in shops all over the UK. It's become a fairly common sight when the latest games console is released but what was so surprising this time was that the children were queuing for a book. You remember them - those things we all used to love with paper pages and lots of words on them. Okay, so I'm being sarcastic but it was pretty astonishing to see it and I can remember thinking at the time how I'd love to know what all the fuss was about. It seems I wasn't on my own.

The Harry Potter books have been released with more grown-up artwork on the covers to enable adults to read them without the accessory of an eager-seven-year old. Harry Potter And The Philosopher's Stone is the first in the series.

In this first adventure from JK Rowling, we meet Harry Potter who has yet to discover that he is a wizard. Like all the best stories, Harry is an orphan who has been left with despicable relatives and fighting the hardships that fate has dealt him. Then out of the blue, strange things start to happen and Harry is eventually able to escape to Hogwarts School. The best thing about Harry's story is that he is only just discovering his enchanted new life. We see all the weird and wonderful things that happen at Hogwarts through the equally amazed eyes of Harry. It is as new to him as it is to the reader and you go on this incredible journey together.

Harry is an unlikely hero - unassuming, yet clearly brilliant. He is able to turn his previously unknown talents to anything. You will want to cheer him on as he becomes the star player in the Quidditch team or sneaks around outwitting monsters in his invisibility cloak. Of course, for every hero there must be a villain. In Harry's case, this is the mysterious and very scary Voldemort.

Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone is great fun and totally gripping, even for those of us who should be too old for it. Completely irresistible.

Review by: Rachel Taylor