That means it is storytelling sunday with Sian.
Sit back, grab a cup of tea..off we go!
The other day I was sitting with a small child listening to them read. He was a confident reader aged eight ploughing through the fourth Harry Potter.
Now I am a bit of a Potter lover so enquired as to how many he had read.
"Oh, I have read the three before this" he said excitedly.
"And will you read the fifth afterwards?" I asked.
He nodded.
It hit me then how odd it was sitting with this little boy who was enjoying Harry Potter for the first time, who would finish one book and then simply walk to the school library and pick the next battered copy off the shelf.
A wave of nostalgia hit me. I remembered being eight and reading the books and then waiting impatiently for the next in the series to come out. Knowing it could be over a years wait. I remembered hearing snippets of the newest Potter book as the release date drew nearer. Then the day coming and going off to the bookshop to join the queue of eager people, desperate to get their hands on the next book in the saga. Feeling that shiny new hard cover, anticipating just how large this book would be!
I remembered taking the new book home and curling up on the sofa to read it. We would take it in turns in our family. A different bookmark for each person. We'd whisper about the plot, ask leading questions, gauging how far the other had got. Then the discussions around the dinner table, exclamation, delight and fury at the twisting plot lines. Each year for my birthday I would recieve the next installment in audio book form- first as casettes and then as cds.
All those memories came back in a flash and in a way I was sorry that this little boy wouldn't have that same excitement, that same feeling of being part of a worldwide anticipation.
Exploring Harry Potter for the first time is magical. I told that to the little boy as well as the above story. He looked at me like I was an alien from a far distant planet.
Who cares! I was there. I was part of the original potter generation.
Children these days! It wasn't like that when I was young!
Thanks for stopping by
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16 comments:
My son is part of the original Potter generation, in fact I think that he started reading the first book when he and Harry were the same age so he grew up alongside all the characters. We would sometimes read bits of the book together and sometimes we would read them separately, me doing my chapters while he was at school! We both loved them, and both felt a little sad when the last one was published. What an amazing, new classic, series those books were. I remember going to the cinema with him to see the first films, then he got 'too old' to go with his mum and went with friends for the later ones. I felt like I really missed out on those as it didn't seem right for a 40 something year old to go to see Harry Potter on her own!
I love how these stories can set the reader off on their own tangent. As I was reading your story, I was reminded how my daughter just couldn't wait for the next Nancy Drew book to appear in the school library and how the school librarian would put it aside for her the minute it arrived.
It is wonderful how the Harry Potter books were shared in your family and I love that you each had a different bookmark. Thank you Abi for sharing this today.
There are still authors I read that I wait in anticipation for the next book to come out!!!
On a comedy show recently they were talking about being hipnotised so that they could watch all the starwars movies as if they had never seen them before - wish it was possible so I could read book series like Harry Potter in one go without knowing what is coming next
I bought the first HP book for my then very small Princess & Ewok - sharing them as a read aloud for the three of us together. No reading ahead! I too have thought my younger nieces and nephews are missing some of the excitement. But people still read Dickens even though they no longer get the installments weekly :)
there is something to be said about being involved in the worldwide anticipation....and something you'll always remember. A lovely story Abi x
I have such magical memories of reading the books as they came out - after discovering the series by reading the first book to my boyfriend's little sister. I think I enjoyed it more than she did.
How awesome, as well, that you shared all that with your family. I love the idea of having different bookmarks to keep your individual places. So sweet!
Yes, I don't think a book series(as opposed to a film or album) has ever created so much inter-generational excitement. I was in my 30s as they were comming out and I was just as excited as my students. My son is into them now, which I love
I love HP still! I waited eagerly for the books and then waited for the films and now I am waiting for my chance to visit Harry Potter at the Warners Brothers Studio just outside London, hopefully this summer! I can't wait to stand inside Dumbledore's office!
My boys are of the Harry generation, we read them aloud and went to a few midnight releases. Wonderful memories :)
He, he, giggle. I might not have been a kid when the HP novels were being published but I did share you excitement. And when my then eight year old boy became interested and decided he would like to read HP5, I was over the moon.
I was never drawn to HP books, but my boys eagerly await releases of books by their fav authors even now. Both are currently counting down the months to their next releases. It is an exciting journey.
Yes, I remember all the excitement over the new books coming out. I never queued at bookshops, but I did actually order the last two in advance (nearly didn't order the final book, as I was disappointed with Half-blood Prince, it wasn't "the same" as the previous ones and seemed rather flat and not as well written... but I did order the seventh book and was so pleased!). My boy didn't read Harry Potter until he was about 12 or so. He didn't want to (!!!). Had to persuade him to try the first book - then had to persuade him to put it down and go to sleep every night! After that, he was off... read the whole series as fast as he could. But he didn't have to wait for them either - there they are, in the bookcase, waiting to be read whenever we want them (except book 4, which is by my bed....)
Fun post, Abi. And I love the Harry Potter books too!
Oh I remember reading my first Harry Potter book, which incidentally was the second in the series because my local library didn't have the first one, and I was hooked! When the final book came out my friend queued up and bought it at midnight, and three of us sat quietly the next day reading them - not talking about it because we all read at different speeds! The second book is the only one I still don't have in my collection!
I remember going to Costco the day the new book was being released - the only trouble with that is - have you ever gone to Costco and just bought the one thing you went for. :)
Oh, yes! I can remember the wait for the new books - my two weren't old enough for them at the start. I was the one waiting! and you are right - it was the fun of the anticipation which really fixed it in my memory. Thanks for the memory Abi - as I unpack this year's holiday reading you have me remembering happy holiday reading of the past
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