A fleeting spell

The Baltimore Sun

Of all the magical powers wielded by Harry Potter, perhaps none has cast a stronger spell than his supposed ability to transform the reading habits of young people. In what has become near mythology about the wildly popular series by J.K. Rowling, many parents, teachers, librarians and booksellers have credited it with inspiring a generation of kids to read for pleasure in a world dominated by instant messaging and music downloads.

And so it has, for many children. But in keeping with the intricately plotted novels themselves, the truth about Harry Potter and reading is not quite so straightforward a success story. Indeed, as the series draws to a much-lamented close, federal statistics show that the percentage of youngsters who read for fun continues to drop significantly as children get older, at almost exactly the same rate as before Harry Potter came along.

There is no doubt that the books have been a publishing sensation. In the 10 years since the first one, Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone, was published, the series has sold 325 million copies worldwide, with 121.5 million in print in the United States alone. Before Harry Potter, it was virtually unheard of for kids to queue for a book. Children who had previously read short chapter books were suddenly plowing through more than 700 pages in a matter of days. Scholastic, the series' U.S. publisher, plans a record-setting print run of 12 million copies for Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, the eagerly awaited seventh and final installment due out at 12:01 a.m. July 21.

But some researchers and educators say the series, in the end, has not permanently tempted children to put down their video games and curl up with a book instead. Some kids have found themselves daunted by the growing size of the books (Sorcerer's Stone was 309 pages; Deathly Hallows will be 784). Others say Harry Potter does not have as much resonance as titles that more realistically reflect their daily lives. "The Harry Potter craze was a very positive thing for kids," said Dana Gioia, chairman of the National Endowment for the Arts, who has reviewed statistics from federal and private sources that consistently show that children read less as they age. "It got millions of kids to read a long and reasonably complex series of books. The trouble is that one Harry Potter novel every few years is not enough to reverse the decline in reading."

"Unless there are scaffolds in place for kids - an enthusiastic adult saying, 'Here's the next one' - it's not going to happen," said Nancie Atwell, the author of The Reading Zone: How to Help Kids Become Skilled, Passionate, Habitual, Critical Readers and a teacher in Edgecomb, Maine. "And in way too many American classrooms, it's not happening."

Young people are less inclined to read for pleasure as they move into their teenage years for a variety of reasons, educators say. Some of these are long-standing trends (older children inevitably become more socially active, spend more time on reading for school or simply find other sources of entertainment) and some of a more recent vintage (the multiplying menagerie of high-tech gizmos that compete for their attention, such as iPods and Wii consoles). What parents and others hoped was that the phenomenal success of the Potter books would blunt these trends, perhaps even creating a generation of lifelong readers in their wake.

"Anyone who has children or grandchildren sees the competition for children's time increasing as they enter adolescence, and the difficulty that reading seems to have to compete effectively," Gioia said. Many thousands of children have, indeed, gone from the Potter books to other pleasure reading. But others have dropped away.

Starting when Avram Leierwood was 7, he would read the books aloud with his mother, Mina. "We'd sit in the treehouse in our backyard and take turns," recalled Leierwood, of South Minneapolis.

But while Leierwood has remained an avid fan, Avram, now 15, is indifferent. When Deathly Hallows comes out, he will be on a canoe trip. As for reading, he said: "I don't really have much time anymore. I like to hang out with my friends, talk, go watch movies and stuff, go to the park and play Ultimate Frisbee."

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