The Importance Of Harry Potter's Reading Habits?

Imagine a magnificent sunset in the gorgeous scenery of Scotland. The trees are a luscious green, the sky morphing from a soft pink-orange to a deep blue-purple. Suddenly, and without warning, a dragon appears, opens its large mouth with piercingly sharp teeth, and…it is time to turn the page. Reading is considered a learning necessity and it is right that people are concerned about the rapidly decreasing child reading habits. As children grow older, their imaginations grow weaker, as does their love of reading. Young minds become preoccupied with other hobbies, interests, or responsibilities. As a result, concern from parents and teachers increase. However, nineteen years ago, a story was born that might have held the key to getting children

Many children continue to be intimidated by the growing size of books, and back down from the challenge. An argument was made by Motoko Rich that “Although they (the Harry Potter books) have been cited as motivating children and adults to read, they have not led to an increase in reading among children or adults, nor slowed the ongoing overall decline in book purchases by Americans.” Though there are numbers aiding the claim that the series has so strongly affected children and their reading habits, the percentage of children who read for fun continues to drop at the same rate as before the books. As kids grow to teenagers, the longing for reading decreases at a decently alarming rate. It was estimated after the release of the Philosopher 's Stone in 1998 that 43% of fourth graders read for fun, whereas 19% of eighth graders read for fun. The same test and results were taken and recorded in 2005 after the release of the sixth book, The Half Blood Prince. As these numbers have shown, one novel every few years could not prove strong enough to reverse the decline in reading. The diminishing reading habits, as stated earlier, can however be blamed on obstacles such as growing social lives, school required reading and other sources of entertainment rather than the “failure” of Joanne and her