For this alone, J. K. Rowling goes to heaven

[dianeduane]

In my book, anyway.

More than half of kids ages 5-17 say they did not read books for fun before the Harry Potter series came along, according to the report, which surveyed 500 children and 500 parents nationwide. Among parents, 76 percent say reading the series has helped their child perform better in school, while 65 percent of children agree.

And there's a happy thought in the last paragraph of the article:

So, what will happen after the seventh and final Harry Potter book comes out? Half of the readers surveyed say they will look for a new series (wannabe-bestselling authors take note!) and 27 percent say they will read whatever Rowling publishes next.

Comments

[lord-maahes.livejournal.com]

I know that the Harry Potter books were a boon to the younger children who had to do Accelerated Reader in my school district. Our libraries were perpetually dry, otherwise. Especially in highschool, when if you didn't want to read the classics or Stephen King or Dean Koontz, you were out of luck. -.- Small budget for a school and used mostly for sports.