Many people have claimed J.K. Rowling deserves credit for almost single-handedly reviving kids' interest in reading. I don't dispute the assertion. I would only suggest that, at least in our library, her influence has turned out to be in a narrower area than a librarian would hope.
Let me explain. Since the publication of the "Harry Potter" series, our students have gravitated overwhelmingly to fantasy, at the expense of most other genres. Only nonfiction and cartoon-style books seem to be able to compete. Not only is fantasy the hands-down choice for most kids, boys and girls, grades 2-6. Stand-alone fantasies are not preferred; series garner the greatest loyalty.
I have asked myself often lately why these preferences should be. Do kids gravitate to fantasy because it's more attractive than their real lives? Does it encourage them to indulge in imagining what life would be like if they had super powers? And, what about the obsession with series? Kids can't get enough of following the adventures of their favorite characters, no matter how repetitive the stories become. Perhaps adults are no different, considering how we love continuing reality t.v. series and ongoing sagas such as "Downton Abbey." Maybe it's just human to become attached to others, even if they are fictional, and not to want to say goodbye to them.
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Hmmm.... I'm very grateful to J. K. Rowling. Our two younger daughters were slowish readers, and not really all that enthusiastic about it. Then a about a year ago, they got hooked on Harry Potter, and they read it, and re-read it, and re-re-read it, over and over and over. It was an astonishing exercise in gaining fluency and confidence. Their reading ages jumped dramatically, and one of them went right off the scale in the standardised tests that NZ does at the start of each school year (diagnostic tests rather than assessment tests).
ReplyDeleteBut they are a little addicted, and it is hard to persuade them to read anything else. I've taken to buying anything but Harry Potter for them.
Deborah - Thank you for your comment from a parent's point of view. I rarely get the opportunity to have a discussion like this with parents at our school. I, too, am grateful to J.K. Rowling, and not just for her mammoth contribution to children's and teen literature, but also for her thinking and actions on various social issues. In truth, her "Harry Potter" series is really the only fantasy series I've ever truly enjoyed; I quickly get impatient with most fantasy. Incidentally, I quite enjoyed her debut novel for adults (The Casual Vacancy), and her second foray into adult novels lays waiting for me on my iPad (The Cuckoo's Calling).
DeleteAll of the above notwithstanding, I'm just flummoxed about how to expand kids' interest to other genres. I read aloud and book talk realistic fiction, science fiction, historical fiction, and mystery, in addition to fantasy, for grades 1-6. Both boys and girls trust me enough to know they will like the books I suggest. But, their initial exploration rarely translates to sustained attention to anything else, and they quickly return to fantasy. A further challenge is that, as publishers have discovered fantasy is where the money is, the quality of what is being published has declined.
I suppose there are worse problems to have than a bunch of kids who love to read full-length novels, whatever genre it is they're reading.