Rowling has created a wonderful series that is multi-genred and applicable and entertaining for multiple demographics. It's not that there has never been anything like it before that makes the series so attractive- it's that Rowling manages to take multiple types of literature and combine them into one beautifully written package that has something for everyone. A wonderful sense of high fantasy, mystery, thrill, love, and even adventure. Any child will be thoroughly engaged from the very first few lines in the book and any adult can read right along with their child without struggling through the coddling or talking down that most children's literature is so riddled with nowadays.

This is a fantastic step in the right direction in the overall genre of children's literature in that we are moving away from expecting so little of kids and letting them open up a few hundred pages of text and ask them to recall tiny bits of information, digest plot twist, and really understand characterization.

This boxed set allows you to buy the first five paperbooks in the Harry Potter series at a very reasonable price. I think buying it is a good idea for:

a- those who want to give their kids/friends (or even themselves) a great gift at a very good price --> due to the fact that you will give 5 books at the price that some bookstores sell one.

b- those who are very lazy --> because it is almost certain that if you buy the first book for yourself or your children, you will end up at the same bookstore buying the other books in the series. Buying the first 5 books at the same time will save you time and money, and you will only have to return later to buy book number 6.

c- those who want to read a book that their kids will love, but that they will like to, and turn the fact that they are reading the series into a family experience.

d- those who want to motivate their children to read --> because reading Harry Potter will make them understand that there are books can offer them some things that the television cannot. If your children just hate the idea of reading, show them one of the movies based on the series, and afterwards tell them that the books have a lot to do with them, but that they are way better.

e- those who are learning English, and want to practise it in a entertaining way. And what better way to improve your grammar that reading something that is actually fun?.

f- those who aren't from an English speaking country, already have the books but want to read them in the language Rowlings wrote them --> because the reading experience is totally different (and yes, I know because I read some of the books both in Spanish, Italian and English).

g- those who are curious about the series but haven't given it a try --> because this series really grows on you, and it gets better and better, specially after book number 3.

After telling you about all the reasons why buying this boxset is a good idea, I would like to talk a little more about point g- because that was my case some years ago, even though I wasn't lucky enough to get my hands on a boxset. First, though, I would like to comment upon the fact that I know very few people who haven't liked the first book, and that have given up after a few chapters. I don't know anybody that has given up after reading the first 3 books. Yes, the first 2 books are very simple and short, but they help to set up the parallel world J.K. Rowlings is writing about. The 3rd book already shows a great promise of how the series are going to be like.

In my case, I bought the first 4 books at the same time, a Saturday afternoon. I read the first 2 books ("Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone" and "Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets") rather quickly, and wondered why everybody including my sister loved them so much. They weren't long, and they were rather good, but nothing out of the ordinary. It is only while I was reading the 3rd book ("Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban"), that very same night, that I understood what the hype was all about. Even though when I finished it it was high time to go to bed, I couldn't help but starting the 4th book ("Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire"), even though I was tired, and it really was much bigger than the others. It also was much more entertaining, and noticeably more complicated. Understandably (for those who have read these books, at least), I started reading it and couldn't stop until Sunday's afternoon. I was tired, but very happy of having discovered the magic, something I wouldn't have done if I had stopped after reading the first two books...

From that point onwards, I'm a "pottermaniac". I've read all the books in the series, and I thoroughly enjoy them. Yes, I like other kinds of books too, and I'm an adult with a degree in Political Science, but that doesn't mean that I cannot find these books engaging. One of the wonderful things about the Harry Potter series is that very diverse people can like it, for very different reasons. Despite that, all readers share something special, the ability to share the magic. Be one of us, and have fun :)

Belen Alcat

unlike a lot of series, each book enthralls you for the next.  as harry potter matures, so does the storyline.  i started reading them just to see how close the movies were to the books and to make sure they were suitable for the kids to read.  strange to say, but the movies deviate only slightly, which is refreshing.  yes, it is fantasy, but so brilliantly written, that you tend to be able to see it in your mind's eye to the point of wanting to read more.  i congratulate J. K. Rowling for her cunning insight and being able to take the trials of growing up and entwining it into a fabulous fantasy.