Harry Potter's life is miserable. His parents are dead and he's stuck with his heartless relatives, who force him to live in a tiny closet under the stairs. But his fortune changes when he receives a letter that tells him the truth about himself: he's a wizard.

Adventure Rescued from the outrageous neglect of his aunt and uncle, a young boy with a great destiny proves his worth while attending Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. First Potter movie is a magical ride but also intense. Read Common Sense Media's Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone review, age rating, and parents guide.

A mysterious visitor rescues him from his relatives and takes him to his new home, Hogwarts School of Witchcraft Harry Potter's life is miserable. His parents are dead and he's stuck with his heartless relatives, who force him to live in a tiny closet under the stairs. But his fortune changes when he receives a letter that tells him the truth about himself: he's a wizard. A mysterious visitor rescues him from his relatives and takes him to his new home, Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry.

After a lifetime of bottling up his magical powers, Harry finally feels like a normal kid. But even within the Wizarding community, he is special. He is the boy who lived: the only person to have ever survived a killing curse inflicted by the evil Lord Voldemort, who launched a brutal takeover of the Wizarding world, only to vanish after failing to kill Harry. Though Harry's first year at Hogwarts is the best of his life, not everything is perfect. There is a dangerous secret object hidden within the castle walls, and Harry believes it's his responsibility to prevent it from falling into evil hands. But doing so will bring him into contact with forces more terrifying than he ever could have imagined. Full of sympathetic characters, wildly imaginative situations, and countless exciting details, the first installment in the series assembles an unforgettable magical world and sets the stage for many high-stakes adventures to come.

I'm going to keep this brief since there isn't much to say that hasn't already been said. *clears throat* I think the reason I waited so long to read this series is because I just couldn't imagine myself enjoying reading about an eleven-year-old boy and his adventures at a school of wizardry. I thought it would be too juvenile for my taste.

I was wrong, of course. I can honestly say that I loved every minute of this. It's a spectacular little romp with funny, courageous, and endearing characters t I'm going to keep this brief since there isn't much to say that hasn't already been said. *clears throat* I think the reason I waited so long to read this series is because I just couldn't imagine myself enjoying reading about an eleven-year-old boy and his adventures at a school of wizardry. I thought it would be too juvenile for my taste. I was wrong, of course.

I can honestly say that I loved every minute of this. It's a spectacular little romp with funny, courageous, and endearing characters that you can't help but love. It has talking chess pieces, singing hats, a giant three-headed dog named Fluffy, a hilarious giant with a dragon fetish, a master wizard that's just a little bit crazy, mail carrier owls, goblins running a bank, unicorns, centaurs(!), trolls... And probably much more that I'm forgetting. And then there's the lead characters: Hermione, the young scholar who starts out prim and up-tight but soon becomes a true friend; Ron, the boy who has little money but who has an abundance of family and loyalty to his friends to make up for it; and then there's Harry, the boy who starts out sleeping in a closet and ends up being a hero.

Harry is kind to those that deserve it, fearless when it counts the most, and wonderfully intelligent. What's not to love? In regards to the ending: [I feel silly saying this about a middle grade novel, but I didn't suspect Quirrell a bit! If there were hints that he was the true culprit and not Snape, I obviously missed them. ] FAVORITE QUOTE: 'But from that moment on, Hermione Granger became their friend. There are some things you can't share without ending up liking each other, and knocking out a twelve-foot mountain troll is one of them.' Now, if you'll excuse me, I'm off to start.

******************************************************* My reviews of other titles in this series. Rereading for the 3rd time for the group read. Once upon a time, there was a 10th grader named Khanh who didn't get along with people very well. She wasn't an outcast in school, and all the bullying and teasing stopped with the commencement of high school, but she had always been a bookworm and has generally preferred the company of her own thoughts.

Lunchtime had always been dedicated not to eating, but to sitting in the library, browsing through books. (Not to worry, she got her nutrition in 5th Rereading for the 3rd time for the group read. Once upon a time, there was a 10th grader named Khanh who didn't get along with people very well. She wasn't an outcast in school, and all the bullying and teasing stopped with the commencement of high school, but she had always been a bookworm and has generally preferred the company of her own thoughts. Lunchtime had always been dedicated not to eating, but to sitting in the library, browsing through books.

(Not to worry, she got her nutrition in 5th period in the form of a giant 6-inch M&M studded cookie and a package of Sour Patch Kids and/or a package of Reese's Pieces. Ah, the effortless metabolism of youth.) One day, there were shiny new books on her school library's 'New Releases' shelf. Harry Potter, books 1 through 3. She had heard of the books before, of course, since they were a constant presence on the NYT bestsellers list, but she had always avoided them, thinking of them as children's novels. At the grand age of 14, surely she was too old for a little kid's fantasy novel. She had read the Outlander series earlier that year, after all. And it had sex in it.

She didn't really quite understand everything in the book, but the point is, she had read them. Surely, at 14, Khanh was ready for more mature novels. And that did not include Harry Potter. Harry Potter is 11. There is a vast difference in their ages. Khanh was a teenager, dammit. But the Harry Potter books were new.

They were shiny, they had never been touched by another reader. And Khanh was tempted. She picked up the first book in the series: Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone. Or rather, the beginning. My original review was a comparison of sorts between Harry Potter and Twilight. However, this is stupid as the two are incomparable. Honestly, its not even worth discussing.

Its not just that Twilight doesn't come close, it is the fact that Harry Potter transcends other similar works. Its peerless. To quote Samuel L.

Jackson in Pulp Fiction: It 'ain't the same fuckin' ballpark, it ain't the same league, it ain't even the same fuckin' sport.' There was a day when I thought I needed to defend Harr My original review was a comparison of sorts between Harry Potter and Twilight. However, this is stupid as the two are incomparable. Honestly, its not even worth discussing.

Its not just that Twilight doesn't come close, it is the fact that Harry Potter transcends other similar works. Its peerless. To quote Samuel L. Jackson in Pulp Fiction: It 'ain't the same fuckin' ballpark, it ain't the same league, it ain't even the same fuckin' sport.' There was a day when I thought I needed to defend Harry Potter, in the midst of the now dead Twilight craze, and you can see that below in what was my original review. It is a testament to the power of this series, that while various other franchises (Twilight, Hunger Games) have surged into popularity and then faded, Harry Potter remains unwaveringly strong after nineteen years.

It is clear readers hold just as much admiration for these books as they always have. Time has not dimmed that. I will, one day, write an essay about what these books mean to me. Eternal, this is the one that started it all. Original review (circa 2010) A note in regard to the on-going Potter vs Twilight debate: Go ahed, tell me is better. Tell me that James is scarier than Voldemort, That the Cullens are a better family than the Weasly's That Edward is cooler than Harry, and Bella is smarter than Hermione. Tell me that is more talented than.

Go ahead, I dare you. Those who think the topic of Harry Potter or Twilight is worth debating and arguing over, are utterly stupid. Quite frankly-this book is amazing. Review for Illustrated Edition Perfect. Re-Read in December 2014 for Harry Christmas To You OH LORDY.

Every time I read this book it brings back so many memories, and also gets me excited to read the rest of the series again as well because there is so much foreshadowing!! For example: -Sirius Black is casually mentioned in the first chapter -Mrs. Figg is talked about a bit, as she looks after Harry from time to time (or all the time, ayyyy?) -it always cracks me up when Hagrid says you'd have Review for Illustrated Edition Perfect. Re-Read in December 2014 for Harry Christmas To You OH LORDY. Every time I read this book it brings back so many memories, and also gets me excited to read the rest of the series again as well because there is so much foreshadowing!!

For example: -Sirius Black is casually mentioned in the first chapter -Mrs. Figg is talked about a bit, as she looks after Harry from time to time (or all the time, ayyyy?) -it always cracks me up when Hagrid says you'd have to be mad to try and rob Gringotts. Damn crazy kids. Also here was a line in Dumbledore's chocolate frog card bio that said AND I QUOTE, 'Professor Dumbledore enjoys chamber music and tenpin bowling.'

HAHAHAHA WHAT EVEN. NOW I'M IMAGINING HIM BOWLING DRAMATICALLY TO CHAMBER MUSIC. Rowling is the queen forever and always.

Re-Read in July 2012 GINNY'S FANGIRLING IN THIS BOOK IS JUST TOO GOOD. Also, the Dursleys aren't as bad as people think they are, because after all, they DID pick Harry up at the end of the year rather than just abandoning him. So THAT'S worth something.

Mmmm, this book smells so good. It's good to be back. Well, I did it. I FINALLY read my first Harry Potter book.and in the same year as its 20th anniversary no less. But better late than never, no? Annnnd I already ordered the illustrated hardback.

And asked for the full hardcover set for Christmas. Because nothing says, “I’m a thirty-fucking-five-year-old adult” like asking Daddy for Harry Potter for Christmas. #TeamDumbledore XXXXXXXXXXX I have a confession to make. * * * I have never read Harry Potter. Yes, yes, I know.this is akin to Well, I did it. I FINALLY read my first Harry Potter book.and in the same year as its 20th anniversary no less.

But better late than never, no? Annnnd I already ordered the illustrated hardback. And asked for the full hardcover set for Christmas. Because nothing says, “I’m a thirty-fucking-five-year-old adult” like asking Daddy for Harry Potter for Christmas.

#TeamDumbledore XXXXXXXXXXX I have a confession to make. * * * I have never read Harry Potter.

Yes, yes, I know.this is akin to reader sacrilege. But I just had no interest in these books when they came out.

I was too busy reading about men in kilts fucking the milkmaid. Therefore, my only experience with 'Hermione' is the SNL skit where Lindsey Lohan shows Harry and that other scarfed dude her ginormous tatas. Well, what with everyone going ape shit over the newest installment, I figure I should probably find out what all this Hogwart's business is about. And since my friend's 9 year old demanded that I read his copy, I now have the paperback in my possession. Hoping to get starting this week. Download Windows 95 Virtualbox Image File. I’ve never even thought about this series until just recently! My son had asked if I could read to him before bed - it’s been a few years as he reads I’ve never even thought about this series until just recently!

My son had asked if I could read to him before bed - it’s been a few years as he reads novels on his own now - so we started this! What was supposed to be 15 minutes of me reading aloud to him each night has turned into me still reading (aloud) long after child is asleep.:) 16 hours, 36 min ago. How can more than half of my Goodreads friends be wrong with this?

I have to get this right. As of this writing, I have 98 Goodreads friends. 61 (62%) of them have read J. Rowling's Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone. Out of those who read this, 39 (64%) rated this with 5 stars. 11 of them with 4 stars. All the others gave 3 or 2.

Only 2 rated this with 1 star. One of them admitted not being able to finish it. She should not have rated it really since she did not read its entirety. (But she How can more than half of my Goodreads friends be wrong with this? I have to get this right. As of this writing, I have 98 Goodreads friends.

61 (62%) of them have read J. Rowling's Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone. Out of those who read this, 39 (64%) rated this with 5 stars. 11 of them with 4 stars. All the others gave 3 or 2. Only 2 rated this with 1 star.

One of them admitted not being able to finish it. She should not have rated it really since she did not read its entirety. (But she is my friend and it is her right, so why question?) When the book came out in 1998, I was not yet a bookworm so I brushed this aside. I read only those books that my brother told me to read. He was the bookworm but he would not be caught reading any book being pushed by media hype. However, when Warner Bros.

Released the film adaptation in 2001, my daughter was 6 years old and I thought that, since there was too much hype, the movie must be good and we would have a memorable time with our first ever father-daughter movie date. She not only got scared because of the darkness inside the movie house but she trembled with fear during the life-size human chess game, in that scene when Ron was sacrificed. We left the movie in that scene with my daughter crying and me cursing it: I will never read Harry Potter. My daughter is now 15 going 16.

She is not fond of movies and she still does not show interest on reading Harry Potter. However, I am now a bookworm and the other week, I was with my 4 Goodreads friends and 3 of them raved (two of them, again) about Harry Potter books. Oh well, first-time fathers can make mistakes about first movie date with their daughters, Book 1 is included in 500 Must Read Books and the book must be a quick read. So the following day, I bought my copy. After 13 years of the book's existence and me ignoring it, did I finally make a good decision of reading it?

Are all of those 39 friends of mine in Goodreads wrong in giving this 5 stars? Most of them did not bother writing a review. Maybe those would be too long or maybe they read this when they were not in Goodreads yet. But I am in Goodreads already so I can make this review long.

These are what some of them say: it was a great book i enjoyed reading it For an eloquent reviewer, she must have been too happy to express herself. Such a great story and creative way of writing. I love Harry Potter.

Yes, I agree about the story being great and J. Rowling being creative. I was secretly wishing I was studying in Hogwarts too! It was silly, but I was simply enraptured by Harry Potter. Honestly, I still am:) It was a great book. I enjoyed reading it Coming from one of my favorite reviewers in Goodreads.

I do not share her wanting to be a sorcerer though. Honestly, I don't know anybody who'd refuse to even entertain the thought of attending a school for wizards.

Another one of my favorite reviewers. That seems to have nailed this. Young people wanting to be in Hogwarts and study sorcery. That should be it!

The world seems to be a dreadful place that we would all like to have powers to turn our enemies into frogs, pigs, ride on a broomstick and get the Snitch and earn points (money) for our family! Oh well, the Bible says that sorcery is Satan's work. The book even used the word Transfiguration as a subject in the sorcery school. Just kidding.

This is a work of fiction and I am not too old to appreciate it. I was just kidding. To be frank, I tried hard not to like this. I thought that giving this a 1 or 2 will freak out my friends and somehow get votes from those who are, up to now, ignoring this book.

I told you so! Why waste your time?.

However, unless you are a grumpy old man/woman, there is nothing not to like about this book. I maybe too old for it but hey, talent is talent and J.

Rowling has it! My 39 friends are indeed right! It's Always Great, Coming back Home.

There's a reason us, the Fans, feel that we're connected, no matter where we from, different culture, ethics, ages.we're all graduated from there..Hogwarts. Even like we were in same class,classmates, no matter which edition we read..Cause Harry Potter is not just a story.it's a Life. The Boy Who Saved Flourished the Book IndustryIt's One of the most important novels in modern history, Sorry, it's The Most Important ONE. This Review also for those who h It's Always Great, Coming back Home. There's a reason us, the Fans, feel that we're connected, no matter where we from, different culture, ethics, ages.we're all graduated from there..Hogwarts.

Even like we were in same class,classmates, no matter which edition we read..Cause Harry Potter is not just a story.it's a Life. The Boy Who Saved Flourished the Book IndustryIt's One of the most important novels in modern history, Sorry, it's The Most Important ONE. This Review also for those who hate the series! Please bear with me. Without it, most Book stores & publishers may have the same fate of Video Stores like Blockbuster LLC, which, despite being super popular in the 90s, closed all the stores by 2013, shutting down forever.

Yes, without this Novel, and with the rapid change in technology, the ease of making e-books and reading it in PCs, Smartphones, Tablets.etc, the publishing and trade of new paper books may decrease rapidly. It'd be limited for religious or educating books, classics, small novels. Even those could be just electronic too, and the Books be just like Good Ol' Video Tapes.

A Dystopia, right? Very gloomy idea to the world without This novel, The One. Well, in the case you think I'm exaggerate.Let's have, A Brief!!

History of Literature in the 90s -------------------------------Well, let’s back to early 90s, where TV is in every house, even in every room, Video sets are there too, rental video stores everywhere, satellite receivers and cable channels growing fast packed with channels for kids & teenagers, making them attached more & more into screens, not to mention Video Games, Game boy and Nintendo Those of this new generation who read are “weirdos' or 'nerds” to the rest of their peers. And for those “few who read”, book stores mostly got for them comics and graphic novels, which most of them created early this century. Classic Novels, they read just for Schools and Classes mostly. And New Novels that make Best Seller are the ones made, or will be made, into movies for Julia Roberts, Tom Cruse or any of the 90s Hollywood celebrity, or the ones by Stephen King because,of course, will be made into movies too. Even these new novels didn't live up the selling numbers of Tolkien, Charles Dickens, Agatha Christie -what’s with the British authors and selling numbers:)?-, also in Russia no more Dostoevsky and Tolstoy, no more Hugo in France, in Egypt no more like Naguib Mahfouz & the great authors of the 50s to 70s. No new Big Hit for novels, most of the selling books are those of Speculation about strange & mysterious things in the world or in religion, Dream interpretation, cocking books or celebrities rumors. While in US & UK, Top Selling books mostly the Self Help ones, or those teaching Computers Programming and Web Sites -this brand new huge technology leap back then- No new novels to attract the new generation of kids and teenagers, There's few Successful Highlights though, like R.L.Stine’s Goosepumbs in 1992 which made a very good success, and translated in many countries including Egypt.

And in Egypt there’s also a very successful project by respectful Publishing house that made “Pocket Novels” for youth, by brilliant Egyptian writers presenting huge variety of novels of many genres, Sci-Fi, Action Thriller, comics, Romance.etc. There’s also “Reading for All”, project by the first lady “Susan Mubarak”, reprinting a huge verity of important books and novels from all over the world in very cheap prices.

But all these effort didn't attract “more and more” of new youth readers as intended, it just made more and more books for those few who already reads. The vast numbers of those who don’t just read will increase if there isn't a BIG new attractive Reading Experience to get them into reading, specially with the more channels, more movies. But the BIGGEST Obstacle for them to read came out in 1994, and became a real phenomenon by 1995..it’s Playstation, The giant Japanese Gaming leap. Football, Crash, Pepsi man, even the comics heroes also have their games, so why reading Superman, Batman’s comics when you can play them.

~~~~~~ A beat. ~~~~~~ So by 1996, with this growing leap in Gaming, also the Computer 3D games getting much improved, Books get replaced bit by bit by a gaming controls. So do you think it’s wise for publishers to publish a book for new writer? Of course not, it may not even cover it’s publishing cost.

So it was very normal when in this year, 1996, when Joanne, a 31 years old lady from England, handed the manuscript of her first novel to 12 publishing houses, all of them rejected it. A manuscript of over 200 pages of a novel, that she had hard times in her personal and professional life while writing it, and for children??? Seriously is there still any Child left who still read? It’s 1996, the Era of Playstation and Video Games. But then, the Modest “Bloomsbury“ agreed to publish it, with 2 advises for her, first that she’d get a day job, since it’s a little chance of making money in children's books. - later she received a grant from the Scottish Arts Council to help her continuing writing.- But the significant advice was to change her pen name cause young boys might not want to read a book written by a woman.

So with her name & her grandmother’s 'Kathleen' come the 2 initial of her pen name. Rowling And in 26 June 1997, with 1,000 copies, 500 of which were distributed to libraries, come out in UK, to our World The Greatest. Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone And Bam!!, everything happened so fast. Before the end of this year the novel was awarded many important literary awards in the UK. An American important publisher, Scholastic, won the rights to publish the novel in US, with a huge check Rowling would never dreams of.

Just with small change, 'Philosopher's Stone' to be 'Sorcerer's Stone', as the American publisher feared 'Philosopher's' may not be that attractive to young readers. And Thanks to Harry Potter, now Every young readers worldwide know much more about Philosopher's Stone's legend. In 1998 Book Two released in UK, 1999 in US, winning more literary prizes. And becoming NO.1 Top Selling Book in UK, US and many other countries which start to publish the translated first book. And on 8 July 1999, The First Breaking Record made when Book Three sold 68.000 copies in just three days after its release in the United Kingdom. And more copies when it released late 1999 in US.

With the fast growing popularity of Harry Potter among readers, more records had been broken. The 3 books takeover the Top Spot in all charts of Best Selling Books for weeks & months, and it's even still in hardcover editions. This conquer of the Top Spots made some literary magazines & newspapers separate the 'Harry Potter books' selling records from the rest of the top selling books, splitting the lists into 'Children Books' and 'Adult Books' sections, under pressure from other publishers who were eager to see their books given higher ranking. And then it was year 2000, where everything is about to change.

The Playstation 2 is out there, and even higher leap in Computer Games. But even with this much of temptations, thousands of children, teens and parents gathered in the Midnight of 8 July 2000 in UK and US at the same day in front of stores, not in front of Cinemas as usual, not electronic stores as Apple stores as happening theses days, But it was in front of Bookstores, for The First time in the Book Stores History, to buy a copy of.

Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire And They didn't mind to find out that the book is over 700 page, it was even for their pleasure, more than double the size of any of the first 3 novels. Double the thriller, double the fun. Over 3 million copies sold at that day only in the US, a New World Record, totally unexpected one. Huge story, bigger plot, mysterious and very well written. And more literate prizes for Rowling. More translated editions to more than 40 language.

And a huge budget for the upcoming first movie of the series, which beautifully visualize the magic of the novel by the faithful producers and the director.and it also made some Cinematic Records back then, but that's not our subject now. ~~~~~~ ~~~~~~ With the announcement of pushing the publishing date of Book Five to mid.

2003, and with 2 movies out so far, The Hunger for reading Harry Potter kept on. So, As more readers from this generation start to increase, Publishers and Book Stores start to promote for more books for those readers who are hungry for more. Older Fantasy books, like Lord of the Rings -which was a super successful movie by then too- Narnia, Golden Compass and many other novels start getting more reprinted editions. And so Book Stores prosperity increased as it get more and more readers. More countries welcomed the Harry Potter phenomenon. The English edition AND the local translated ones, both been sold everywhere worldwide. Even in Egypt English edition sold at many books stores.

And, hopefully, some New Book Stores specialized in English novels and books start to open in Cairo & Alexandria by 2002-2003. And in summer 2002, after the Movie wild success, Nahdet Masr publishing house got the rights and published the Arabic edition. Although it cut some of the lines for length issues, the edition still hold the magic of it.making a very good sales.

~~~~~~ ~~~~~~ The good news is, the literary movement didn't stop there, Harry Potter and Reprinted Classics. No, there's more new books come out for the increasing demand from the readers.

By 2002, Life of Pi, Man Booker winner make very good sales numbers. And in April 2003 Dan Brown (previously published 3 novels, making good sales) released a novel that made Huge Fuss around and making a new sales records, The Da Vinci Code. The funny thing that there's a reference in this novel that Harry Potter is 'the Second Most Selling Book in History after the Bible ', a speculation that happens to be true in less than 5 years after that. A month later, May 2003, Khaled Hosseini released his first novel, The Kate Runner which also made a very good records too. -Don't you agree if there's no Harry Potter before, this Afghan-born author would have a chance?

He'd be rejected by 12 publishers like you know who:)- And all that didn't affect the main reason for this new 'Literal Renaissance'. All that didn't affect the Records Breaker to break records one month later. On 20 June 2003 book Five 'Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix' comes out. Ten thousands of all ages conquer the Book Stores in UK, US and other countries too at the same day to get The One Book they've been waiting for at least 2 years. Shipping agents like FedEx made the delivery to many countries to get the book at the same time. A New world Record,5 millions copy at the first day only.

For the first time in France a non french language book placed in no.1 of the bestselling book. Some kids got a headache called 'Harry Potter Headache' as they read the whole 850 pages of the book five, the biggest so far, at the same day without resting.

And in Egypt, September the same year, the Arabic edition of book three comes out with unexpected sales records, first edition run out of the stores by the first week only, though it's nearly the beginning of the School year, and the movie of this 3rd book still filming. ِAnd the price of it get higher 20% in 2 days and still with increasing demand. More English books and novels sold in Egypt too, along with the Arabic ones, publishing more books for new Egyptian authors and writers along with more of the famous ones, Alaa El Aswany's debut Novel 'Yaqubean's Building' making a very good selling numbers. And in July 2004 the Arabic edition of Book Four makes a price war between book stores and magazines stands.

January 2005, an abridged translated edition of Book Five make many readers angry in Egypt, specially that many already read the English edition before, so the publisher release an unabridged one by May. ~~~~~~ ~~~~~~ And on 21 July 2005, A Higher Record that breaks all the previously ones 6.9 million copy of Book Six sold in US in its first day only. A huge book, it may not be as the fans' expectations of being full of action, but it get a twist that blow minds about one of the most interesting characters, Professor Snape.

That made many fans and even big authors like Stephen King and Salman Rushdie talk about for months. With Pre-Final Book of Harry Potter is out, it followed by a massive variety of New Novels, New Series, New Authors. Twilight series, Percy Jackson series, and much more, more Books Sales not only in US, UK but worldwide. More Novels hit the top sales. A Real Prosperity. But still Harry Potter is the Records Big Breaker.

At the midnight before 21 June 2007, Everywhere around the Globe, the scene of thousands of people lining in front of Book Stores was repeated.even Bigger than any time before. A Huge Record for Pre-Orders online reach to One Million copies by Amazon only, and total sales of 11 millions copies in UK and US in the first day only.

The book sold at the Same Day almost in Every Single Country. Even in Israel which made a big religious fuss because the Book Stores opened to receive and sell the book at the releasing day which was their holy Saturday, But it's Harry Potter after all, the world's most unusual, unexpected phenomenon and sales records breaker.

And that's not bad, it was the Miracle of bringing back readers to Book Stores. And it's not just Harry Potter. Now, that 'All was well.' , thousands of topics went online asking 'what to read next'. Indeed, although there's the e-books, e-readers.etc, still there's thousands of new books and novels published and sold every year, in every where in the world. The gaming devices is increasing? Yes, But not as expected though by the 90s and early 2000s 'remember Nokia N-Gage?'

But so does the reading devices which first come out by Sony in 2004,make big step by Amazon's Kindle in 2007.the ebook applications on every device. New books and series come after that, and still on, making super sales, attracting more readers. More writers come with more books and novels, some are just a rip off others and some are really original and brilliant.

In UK, US, Egypt.everywhere all over the globe. No matter a Playstation 4 is out, or new Xbox, the Books still there.with its most beloved magic. The magic of books is back and, I believe, to stay.

Don't you see with me that the magic of Harry Potter is one of the main factors of this magic? “This boy will be famous. There won’t be a child in our world who doesn’t know his name” That's what Rowling wrote at the very early pages of her first book. The one that rejected by 12 Publishing Houses in 1996. Well, what about now? God, Talked too much in the 'Brief' introduction, didn't I? Well, that's it for this review.

I guess some still think it's just the Propaganda that made that all. Well I'll try to prove them wrong by the upcoming next 6 reviews at the other 6 Books of the series.

Links will be here as soon as it'd done. But for The First one.

Sorry to add one more, but 20000 characters aren't enough. Now I'll be back to go around Hogwarts. For the Zillionth time I guess. Hope to see you there too, come on and try first year:) From Hogwarts Mohammed Arabey The Craziest Potterhead of Egypt Re-reading the new edition -Guess I'm addicted to new editions BUT this one really rocks.' Bloomsbury-2014' from 12 Sep.

2014 till 23 Sep. On my list of reasons why my daughters are the bestest thing to ever happen to me, Number 14,577 is that they gave me, at 41 years old, the perfect excuse to revisit the Harry Potter series. When my oldest angel told me she wanted to start reading the Harry Potter books, I couldn’t have been happier.

As I was collecting all seven volumes off the shelf to bring up to her room, I started feeling nostalgic for the whole Hogwarts gang, and I realized that I’d never done more than a perfunctory revie On my list of reasons why my daughters are the bestest thing to ever happen to me, Number 14,577 is that they gave me, at 41 years old, the perfect excuse to revisit the Harry Potter series. When my oldest angel told me she wanted to start reading the Harry Potter books, I couldn’t have been happier. As I was collecting all seven volumes off the shelf to bring up to her room, I started feeling nostalgic for the whole Hogwarts gang, and I realized that I’d never done more than a perfunctory review of this first volume. I figured it was high time to rectify that oversight. Harry deserves it. However, with over a million ratings, and almost two reviews for every day I’ve been alive, I think I can dispense with any plot distillation or character profiles.

It has all been eloquently said before. Therefore, I just want to briefly express what I see as the essential magic at the heart of the series, and why I think it has resonated so strongly with so many people. Only rarely does a story come along that can so completely wrap you up in a warm blanket of contentment and good feelings. One that can hold at bay, even if only for precious moments, the nasty brutishness of what often passes for daily life. These stories do that. It’s an escape into a world of optimism, honor, and hope, where things always look hopeful and anything is possible. Who wouldn't want to hang around in a place like that, especially when it is decorated with sorting hats, kindly giants, magic wands and Quidditch.

Granted.no aspect of the story is revolutionary, or even particularly noteworthy, from the standpoint of blazing new trails within the fantasy genre. It isn’t great literature, and nothing about its technical merits makes it befitting of even a fraction of its unprecedented success. The virtue of this story is the postive feelings it conjures in its readers. Harry’s story is something that radiates acceptance, inclusion, and friendship. It invokes a sense of belonging. Inside these pages, you can find the impetus to see the better angels of humanity’s nature, and feel just a little better about the world around you. How is that not worthy of praise?

As for Harry himself, he’s just a good kid. The quintessential everyman who makes good. A loving boy with a clear head on his shoulders and a caring heart that pumps affection for the world around him. He’s someone you can’t help but like. He’s not perfect. He makes mistakes, he’s occasionally short sighted, and I know many of us wish he would stick up for himself a little more. Maybe reduce his aunt and uncle to a pair of fatty stains on the carpet, or give Dudley an atomic wedgie until his skivvies scrape against his pancreas.

But that’s not Harry. He’s a better person than that.

That’s why we love him. Maybe all of the above is a bit much. Like I said, I was feeling nostalgic and maybe the gush got a tad away from me. Let’s just say that these stories are perfect comfort food and reading them will make you happy. I’ll certainly settle for that.

As for the rating, I Initially only gave this first volume 3 stars, and I’m not going to change that now. As much as I love the series as a whole, I don’t think it reaches stratospheric heights until. Still, this is where it all began.

As such, it should be read and savored knowing that it only gets better. Highly Recommended.

❝This boy will be famous. There won't be a child in our world who doesn't know his name.❞ Everyone grew up with Harry Potter. They read all the books when they were young and watched all the films.

They would re-watch and re-read them. They would fall in love with the Wizarding World and would completely adore Harry, Ron, and Hermione. They would talk about them non stop, about Hogwarts, about its teachings, about them wanting to become students there and pretending they are, about joining the ❝This boy will be famous. There won't be a child in our world who doesn't know his name.❞ Everyone grew up with Harry Potter. They read all the books when they were young and watched all the films.

They would re-watch and re-read them. They would fall in love with the Wizarding World and would completely adore Harry, Ron, and Hermione.

They would talk about them non stop, about Hogwarts, about its teachings, about them wanting to become students there and pretending they are, about joining the HP fandom, about loving every character and instantly missing the world. Everyone would adore Harry Potter and knew about it since they were young ones. I didn't grow up with Harry Potter.

Not because I didn't get to, but because I chose not to. I know, it's like living a life where everything has been a lie. It's just, the movies would appear on my tv. From the first one, to the next and the next, and every time I saw the trailer for the upcoming one, I wouldn't be interested and would skip it when I came to it. I wouldn't bother and wouldn't care, and that made a big problem in my life now.

Here I am now, being left out because of such poor choices and decisions I made when I was 7, 8, 9, and older until now. But now, as 2016 and having over 500 friends that are caught up and have read the recently published novel, Harry Potter and the Cursed Child, I have finally read the first book and am able to continue the series and watch the films. Now, here I am, wishing to go back to my past and change this nightmare and actually watch the films or read the books because I have literally missed on so much, missed too much, and have been missing too much. I have been out of this world and never realized how good it is, and how special it already has become. There is no good and evil, there is only power, and those too weak to seek it.

I find it stupid of me to write a review for Harry Potter, especially being the first one. I also find it stupid of me how I just recently decided to check this out and finally read it.

But still, I guess I can still write a review. Of course, my thoughts would be quite similar to everyone else.

Thoughts and opinions, nothing negative, maybe, maybe not. But, here goes nothing. Harry Potter is one of the most famous, loved, and top series out there. It is loved, adored, cherished, and amazing for HP fans every time they read it.

No matter how many times it is read, it fills the person's heart with warmth and happiness, as they are going back to the wizarding world. As for me, I have finally entered it and feel young and new and early to this, because I am new to this all. Other than that, Harry Potter is considered a Children's book but in my opinion, it's in between middle grade and young adult because it can be hard to read for some. Although it was very very easy for me to read and understand, I see myself reading this all these years before and having a lot of trouble pronouncing some names. Harry Potter, a story about a young wizard that didn't even know he was a wizard. Harry Potter, a 10 year-old boy, who turned 11, is living with his horrible, rude and awful 'family', The Dursleys.

Dursley is known as Harry Potter's mother's sister. The problem is, they didn't like each other, nor blend in with each other. They were different.

Her sister was a witch, while she was just a Muggle, a person who cannot seek the magic and find it, nothing and no one special because they aren't able to turn things into other things, aren't able to fly on a broom, cast a robe on fire, defeat a villain, confuse a troll, aren't able to do anything, really. Well, she wasn't, besides treat Harry with such disrespect and treat her ugly and fat son with such caress and would spoil him because he was such a little brat that would get what he wants.

Really though. There would be 36 presents under a Christmas tree and as he counts them, he pouts and is upset because it's less than what he had the year before. DUDE I BARELY GET A BARNES AND NOBLE GIFT CARD CHILL! The reason for Harry living with this family and having to go trough all this trouble and mess, is because he was actually given to them by Professor Albus Dumbledore, known as one of the greatest wizards and the headmaster of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. When Harry was a baby, his parents were killed by Everyone-Knows-Who but as he tried killing Harry, he really wasn't able to. His mother was killed because she was trying to stop him, but as he tried killing Harry, he couldn't bare to do it and left him a scar, the scar that has made Harry known and popular for surviving this evil person.

Once saved and taken, the only people they can rely on are The Dursleys, and as Harry grows, they expect them to tell him he is a wizard and tell him everything and fix all the lies. Except they don't. As days pass, Harry has been getting letters from someone he doesn't know.

He doesn't know who it is and what they want, but he knows there is something going on, due to the amount of letters being sent. After getting the chance to open the first one, his Uncle Vernon decides to snatch it away from him, read it, and burn it. He knows, he knows who it is and what they want, but he doesn't want Harry to know. But even with him burning letter by letter and collecting them all, letters keep arriving and arriving, until the person finally shows up face-to-face with The Dursleys and Harry on his 11th birthday. He's huge, introduced as a half-giant and half-human, known as Rubeus Hagrid. Hagrid is the one who tells Harry the truth, telling him he is a wizard, and a well-known one as well.

He's got talent, and has some of the same abilities as his parents. One being a witch and the other being a wizard, Harry is known as a wizard as well.

And as Hagrid tells him the truth, Harry does too. He doesn't know what he is talking about and doesn't know what is going on. He doesn't believe he is a wizard, and doesn't believe the reason for his parent's deaths.

But of course, Hagrid decides to tell him the truth and tell him his parents did not die on a car crash, for that seemed impossible, but they were killed by Everyone-Knows-Who and is the reason for his scar. His aunt, finally admitting herself into being a witness of knowing the truth, got everything out of her chest and was able to tell him the truth. She wouldn't even mention her sister, because she pretended to not have one. She was considered perfect and brave, while she was nothing and unnoticed. Nothing has changed, but she didn't even bother trying to care care of her niece as her sister is dead, protecting Harry from wherever she is. And as Hagrid tells Harry the rest, he actually takes Harry with him even when Mr. Dursley 'forbids him.'

He can't do anything, since he is a Muggle and Harry has already been accepted to Hogwarts School and nothing can change. When Harry leaves with Hagrid, they go and buy him what he needs, including clothes and supplies for the school. As they go to the shop, he is introduced as Harry himself but is instantly known by everyone else. Everyone is pleased to meet him and feel proud because they have shaken his hand. He's famous, his name is everywhere, and he can be considered a legend for what happened. But even with all this going on, Harry is still a little confused and figuring things out. As Harry and Hagrid get what they need, it's time for Harry to go to school, where he meets Ron Weasley, as to what I know, one of his best friends.

Ron is small, red-haired, has freckles, pale, and has two twin brothers going to Hogwarts with him. He's not accepted into the other groups, and that is why he blends in with Harry and becomes his friend. Harry also meets Hermione Granger, known as someone annoying and as a nightmare to them both because of how bossy and unrealistic she can be.

Of course, they are all so small and Hermione is a little nerd that enjoys every teaching at this school, so I was just like 'we get it.' Days pass, and Harry is being trained. He's a neutral to broom-stick flying, is able to play Quidditch, the most popular game in Hogwarts, is given special supplies, and is of course, known by everyone. Other than that, Harry suspects his own secrets and wants to find out truths, but in order to do that, he must find a way to find them and figure them out.

With the help of his two friends, he might just be able to figure out the real reason behind him being a wizard, more about his parents, history about himself, who this 'You-Know-Who' person is, remember his past, and see how his life really will be changed, forever. Humans do have a knack of choosing precisely those things that are worst for them. Harry Potter was easy to read, understand, and there was no hesitation when it came to rating it 5 stars. Now, I hate myself once again and ask myself, again, 'Why the fuck did I not read this earlier?' The answer is obvious, because I already know it and it's because I was never a fan of it.

I hate speaking about my past, but this is one ugly past and I hate it. I hate the choice I made and I hate myself for allowing it. But soon I'll get over it and will be able to re-read this as many times as I will be able to during my last 3 years of being a teen. Yes, a 15 year-old that has not read Harry Potter simply because she chose not to when she was able to and when she was young.

The fantasy is cute, I will say. It's easy to understand and the book is easy to fly through. It's not long, it's not hard, and it's not boring.

It's gripping, fun, and everything is filled with some kind of magical element that has me turning page by page. Having no regrets anywhere, I am finally able to talk about HP and the world of wizards, where students learn how to make potions, talk to ghosts, learn about other creatures, transform things into other things, read minds, become invisible, fly in the air with a broomstick, play soccer in the air, have a feast and enjoy it all, learn magic, have a wand, and just be filled with happiness because of the friends and families considered in the houses. Well, I guess in most.

Everything was fun to read. I laughed at some parts and found the story to be more affective to me as Harry was figuring out his new and changed life. He was confused, but he found out a lot more.

There's still more, but I know that as he grows, I will be able to follow along the late ass journey and see where he grows to and how. I'll see how strong he gets and find out some strengths and weakness'. I'll be able to join an invisible magic carpet and fly through the series because I just want to know what happens next and how everything goes. I want to see Harry become a better person and be able to prove Draco and his stupid friends wrong about what they think. I want his friendship with Ron to grow and become stronger. I want Hermione to stop being so talkative and take a little break of being so bossy. But more importantly, I want to have a fun journey reading this and feeling like I'm on an adventure.

Reading it for the first time feels like one. I've never watched the films. I've watched parts, but skipped them.

Now, I won't skip anything. It's like an adventure where I'm dived in and can't seem to leave because I'm so alive and intrigued. What can I say about Harry Potter that others have not said? Reviews are always similar, and this one might be too. Everyone loves it, and so did I. So will I, I should say., Yes, I had trouble pronouncing some names at first but got used to it after. Yes, I rolled my eyes at times because there were moments where I was annoyed.

But nothing was boring, and even when I rolled my eyes, there was a reason for that eye rolling scene. Maybe it was Hermione being annoying, or Draco being a rude boy, mocking an adorable red-haired. But I was also laughing.

I would always laugh when it came to Hagrid. Since the beginning, I instantly loved him and considered him hilarious. I love how he turned Dunley into a pig but failed because he was already too much of a pig. I remember laughing and noticing my parents looked at me weirdly, but that's okay because I needed a novel where I was happy and ended up laughing at times. Oh and also, Hagrid is honestly so nice and adorable guys, I love him.

He's so funny and protective and is such a good friend to Harry. I loved everything he did for him and was glad he was the first one to introduce himself to Harry. He cared for him since he was a baby and saw him as 11, bring him a present and giving him another one at the end.

Ron is honestly the cutest. I don't understand how anyone could be mean to him. He may be weak, but he has his own strengths. He's so adorable and small and I hated how Draco treated him. There were some times unnecessary and I hated Draco for it, but I'll probably end up loving Draco some time throughout the series and probably regret it because I know he's still gonna be really mean throughout the series. I haven't spoiled myself, so I have no idea how his or anyone else's life goes, but I do know that he changes in some way.

Hermione is a small and cute nerd as well, but sometimes I hated how sassy she was and bossy. She hated losing points for her house and because she, Ron, and Harry were in the same house, they had to work together and find a way to become friends to find out other truths and earn points for Gryffindor. She took everything very serious and showed off at times because of her perfect test grades and assignments, but I was glad she was able to put up with Ron and Harry while they put up with her. Malfoy Draco was someone I did not like, at all. Like I said, he mocked and made fun of Ron and I hated him for it. He showed off as well but in the bad way, thinking he was really cool just because he's in Slytherin and how used to the wizarding world he is. He didn't show much care about Harry and his past, and would try to get in a fight with Harry while Harry tried fixing the problem.

He payed no attention and took it too far with Harry. He was a newbie as well, so I don't see what the point was. But the other point is that I don't have expectations for Draco but I hope I don't end up hating him in all books and hope there is some change, at least slightly good. The friendship between Harry, Ron and Hermione was probably one of my favorites. I know it didn't work out at first and they honestly hated her, but I was so happy it literally had to work toward the middle. Thanks to the troll, she became their friend and actually was able to cooperate with them. She didn't yell at them for fighting the troll, but instead told them to be careful and send word if anything goes wrong when Harry went for the mirror again.

As it was ending, she was saying goodbye to Harry and Ron and was even awkward because she couldn't really figure out what to say. But also, my heart was really happy when she hugged Harry because it felt real and it felt like something I had been waiting since the beginning.

It was friendship goals as they were becoming friends, and it just made me happy seeing them all together, same house, same team, same classes. The writing of course is, like I said, easy to understand. There were no words that were confusing in any way or words that got me mixed up because of how similar they sounded, and there were no problems. I didn't know what was gonna happen next and I know books are always better than movies, but I will watch the films after or after finishing one book just to see the differences.

I hear they are kind of the same, just that the book provides some more information and detail. Like always, it's no surprise. There are some things you can't share without ending up liking each other, and knocking out a twelve-foot mountain troll is one of them. Overall, I am so proud of myself for getting the first book over with, now wanting the 2nd and the 3rd and the rest. Really excited to see where this all goes to, and how Harry becomes a better wizard.

Re-Read 2017 MY BLOG: I'M GOING TO ADD MY BIG OLE SPOILER THING FOR THOSE THAT HAVEN'T READ THESE BOOKS YET. I'M ALSO GOING TO ADD A FEW PICTURES THAT ARE IN THE BOOK SO YOU CAN SEE HOW BEAUTIFUL IT IS AND RUN OUT AND BUY IT, IF YOU HAVEN'T ALREADY! LET US BEGIN! Poor Harry's parents were killed by VOLDEMORT!

Yep, I said it:-) So Dumbledore (the head honcho) and the gang decide to leave Harry with his mother's sister, Aunt Petunia and Uncle Vernon and their brat of a s Re-Read 2017 MY BLOG: I'M GOING TO ADD MY BIG OLE SPOILER THING FOR THOSE THAT HAVEN'T READ THESE BOOKS YET. I'M ALSO GOING TO ADD A FEW PICTURES THAT ARE IN THE BOOK SO YOU CAN SEE HOW BEAUTIFUL IT IS AND RUN OUT AND BUY IT, IF YOU HAVEN'T ALREADY! LET US BEGIN! Poor Harry's parents were killed by VOLDEMORT! Yep, I said it:-) So Dumbledore (the head honcho) and the gang decide to leave Harry with his mother's sister, Aunt Petunia and Uncle Vernon and their brat of a son, Dudley. This was a huge mistake because they were so mean to him growing up. He had to live in a cupboard under the stairs and wear Dudley's hand-me-downs.

They didn't get him gifts or do anything nice for him.:-( They didn't even tell him what really happened to his parents, what they were and what he was. Until one day.

On his eleventh birthday he started getting all of these letters in the mail inviting him to Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. But his stupid family tried to keep the letters from Harry, this didn't go over well and we get to meet sweet, wonderful Hagrid.:-) Hagrid is stunned that Harry doesn't know anything about anything and begins to fill him in, he also brings him a cake for his bday:-) Moving on. So Harry finds out about all the things he needs to find out about and Hagrid carts him off to the bank to get all of this money his parents left for him so he can buy supplies for school! I just loved in the movies and the books when they went shopping at Diagon Alley. I want to go there! After Harry gets to school he gets into Gryffindor with his new friends, Ron, Hermione (my heroine), all of the Weasley's, and Neville.

There are a lot of sweet people in their house. He has an arch nemesis named Malfoy that get into Slytherin, the house Voldemort was in at one time. I'm not going to tell every little thing about the book as most have read it and some that haven't just might take a little peek:-) Let's sum this up to say that Harry gets on the Quidditch team (read to find out what that is), there are trolls with nasty snot, a secret the group are trying to figure out, great times spent with Hagrid, many magical moments and an appearance of sorts by someone that will not be named.

I'm going to leave you with some pictures from the book, I had no idea that Jim Kay who is the illustrator is the same man who illustrated, 'A Monster Calls,' by Patrick Ness and he also has a rescued greyhound like me:-) Yay!OH and there will be no captions to the pictures, you can figure out most yourself or just look at the pretty pictures, just know that there are many more pictures in the book and all of the pages have something cool on them! I highly recommend this edition of the book! I will say again to go out and buy this illustrated edition, it's so wonderful and I can't wait to get the rest of them in the illustrated editions!!!!!!!! Like yesterday!!!!!! Kudos to J.K. Rowling for writing the series and to Jim Kay for his wonderful illustrations!

Professor McGonagall approves:-) I LOVED TAKING THIS TRIP BACK DOWN MEMORY LANE WITH THE GROUP AND THE MAGIC! Here are three reasons why Harry Potter rocks my socks: 1.A Better World One of the main reasons Harry Potter is so wonderful is because Rowling shows you a boring world; it is the world of reality, dry, boring and ordinary.

Then under it she reveals fantasy; she reveals everything a reader longs for: she reveals pure escapism. I still want to go to Hogwarts. I always will. We’re all a bit like Harry Okay so not many of us are orphans, and not many of us are practically abused in their own homes Here are three reasons why Harry Potter rocks my socks: 1.A Better World One of the main reasons Harry Potter is so wonderful is because Rowling shows you a boring world; it is the world of reality, dry, boring and ordinary. Then under it she reveals fantasy; she reveals everything a reader longs for: she reveals pure escapism. I still want to go to Hogwarts. I always will.

We’re all a bit like Harry Okay so not many of us are orphans, and not many of us are practically abused in their own homes, but a lot of us feel isolated in the world, a lot of us wish for a fantastic group of friends as a child. I know I did, and this again leads back to my first point. Not everyone finds a Ron and Hermione. The magic Seems a bit of an obvious point doesn’t it? But, seriously, not many books have such a well-developed system. We have different categories, spell names, potions and books, lots of books on magic. And who doesn’t like books on magic?

One of my first jobs was at a bookstore. When I was a kid my Mom would take me to the mall and I would spend tons of time hanging out at Waldenbooks (who here remembers Waldenbooks?) Right when I became legally old enough to work, I went in and submitted my application and a few weeks later I was selling literature to the masses. Why do I tell you this story on this review, you ask? Well, at the time, young adult/teen literature consisted mainly of RL Stein, Christopher Pike, Beverly Cleary, Judy One of my first jobs was at a bookstore. When I was a kid my Mom would take me to the mall and I would spend tons of time hanging out at Waldenbooks (who here remembers Waldenbooks?) Right when I became legally old enough to work, I went in and submitted my application and a few weeks later I was selling literature to the masses. Why do I tell you this story on this review, you ask? Well, at the time, young adult/teen literature consisted mainly of RL Stein, Christopher Pike, Beverly Cleary, Judy Blume, and a few other classic Newberry Award winners, but certainly we did not have a YA section to the extent you see it today.

Towards the end of my tenure at Waldenbooks - as Oprah's book club was hitting its stride and Men Are From Mars, Women Are From Venus was in its bazzilionth week on the New York Times best seller list - a book display arrived featuring a buzzy new title about a certain boy wizard. I remember the display at the front of the store, and selling a few copies, but I didn't realize what it would become. A few years later (early 2000s), I had kinda gotten out of the loop on what was big in books. I had just finished college, which had taken up most of my free reading time. A friend of mine named Bronco (yup, real name, not a nickname, who also was the Best Man at my wedding) had a copy of this book on his coffee table. Here is that same book we were selling at Waldenbooks about 5 years before - what was he doing with it!?

Well, he said it was good, so I borrowed it. I quickly plowed through the first 4 books and then got the pleasure of joining the world in waiting for the release of Order of the Phoenix. And, I noticed when I went to the bookstore, the YA section and selection was not so small anymore. I truly believe it was Harry Potter that opened the door to get more young adults (and even adults, of course) reading and authors interested in writing for that genre. “There are some things you can't share without ending up liking each other, and knocking out a twelve-foot mountain troll is one of them.” Harry Potter is the most amazing series that I have ever read in my whole life, and it probably forever will be.

I will never love any books as much as I love these. I don't think I have to tell you guys about how good this book is because most of you have already read it anyway. I haven't written a review so far because I just did not feel the need to put this “There are some things you can't share without ending up liking each other, and knocking out a twelve-foot mountain troll is one of them.” Harry Potter is the most amazing series that I have ever read in my whole life, and it probably forever will be. I will never love any books as much as I love these. I don't think I have to tell you guys about how good this book is because most of you have already read it anyway. I haven't written a review so far because I just did not feel the need to put this obvious opinion into words. I don't think anything I write here hasn't been said already.

But I've just read the illustrated edition by Jim Kay and if it is possible, it makes this book even more outstanding than it already is. Jim Kay is awesome. Maybe you have read A Monster Calls and already know him.

If not, you should definitley reconsider your life choices. I am certainly going to buy an edition of this, it's so pretty I could die. Looking forward to the illustrated sequels!

1000/5 stars. Can 35 Million Book Buyers Be Wrong? Taking arms against Harry Potter, at this moment, is to emulate Hamlet taking arms against a sea of troubles. By opposing the sea, you won't end it. The Harry Potter epiphenomenon will go on, doubtless for some time, as J. Tolkien did, and then wane.

The official newspaper of our dominant counter-culture, The New York Times, has been startled by the Potter books into establishing a new policy for its not very literate book review. Rather than crowd o Can 35 Million Book Buyers Be Wrong? Taking arms against Harry Potter, at this moment, is to emulate Hamlet taking arms against a sea of troubles. By opposing the sea, you won't end it.

The Harry Potter epiphenomenon will go on, doubtless for some time, as J. Tolkien did, and then wane. The official newspaper of our dominant counter-culture, The New York Times, has been startled by the Potter books into establishing a new policy for its not very literate book review. Rather than crowd out the Grishams, Clancys, Crichtons, Kings, and other vastly popular prose fictions on its fiction bestseller list, the Potter volumes will now lead a separate children's list. Rowling, the chronicler of Harry Potter, thus has an unusual distinction: She has changed the policy of the policy-maker. Imaginative Vision I read new children's literature, when I can find some of any value, but had not tried Rowling until now.

I have just concluded the 300 pages of the first book in the series, 'Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone,' purportedly the best of the lot. Though the book is not well written, that is not in itself a crucial liability. It is much better to see the movie, 'The Wizard of Oz,' than to read the book upon which it was based, but even the book possessed an authentic imaginative vision. 'Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone' does not, so that one needs to look elsewhere for the book's (and its sequels') remarkable success.

Such speculation should follow an account of how and why Harry Potter asks to be read. The ultimate model for Harry Potter is 'Tom Brown's School Days' by Thomas Hughes, published in 1857. The book depicts the Rugby School presided over by the formidable Thomas Arnold, remembered now primarily as the father of Matthew Arnold, the Victorian critic-poet. But Hughes' book, still quite readable, was realism, not fantasy. Rowling has taken 'Tom Brown's School Days' and re-seen it in the magical mirror of Tolkein. The resultant blend of a schoolboy ethos with a liberation from the constraints of reality-testing may read oddly to me, but is exactly what millions of children and their parents desire and welcome at this time. In what follows, I may at times indicate some of the inadequacies of 'Harry Potter.'

But I will keep in mind that a host are reading it who simply will not read superior fare, such as Kenneth Grahame's 'The Wind in the Willows' or the 'Alice' books of Lewis Carroll. Is it better that they read Rowling than not read at all? Will they advance from Rowling to more difficult pleasures? Rowling presents two Englands, mundane and magical, divided not by social classes, but by the distinction between the 'perfectly normal' (mean and selfish) and the adherents of sorcery. The sorcerers indeed seem as middle-class as the Muggles, the name the witches and wizards give to the common sort, since those addicted to magic send their sons and daughters off to Hogwarts, a Rugby school where only witchcraft and wizardry are taught. Hogwarts is presided over by Albus Dumbeldore as Headmaster, he being Rowling's version of Tolkein's Gandalf. The young future sorcerers are just like any other budding Britons, only more so, sports and food being primary preoccupations.

(Sex barely enters into Rowling's cosmos, at least in the first volume.) ---------------------------- The first half of a little piece I wrote from the Journal in July 2000. Rest is available at []. As wonderful and magical as promised. Because I didn't remember the movie, the third act of the book was a delightful surprise to me. I wish I'd had this book when I was a kid, because the idea that someone could be special without knowing it, and then get to visit a special world where the things that made him different were the same things that made him awesome would have been really inspiring to me.

Anne's finishing this, too, and I have to wait for her before I start in on the second book. As wonderful and magical as promised. Because I didn't remember the movie, the third act of the book was a delightful surprise to me. I wish I'd had this book when I was a kid, because the idea that someone could be special without knowing it, and then get to visit a special world where the things that made him different were the same things that made him awesome would have been really inspiring to me.

Anne's finishing this, too, and I have to wait for her before I start in on the second book. HURRY UP ANNE!

I read this book a couple of years ago and, for some unknown reason, never continued on. It was just as wonderfully magical as I remembered, a breath of fresh air during what is usually a stressful time of year for me. I have yet to find a story that feels so pure and childlike that appeals to such a broad range of people. There’s something for everyone here; whether you are 10 or 100, Hogwarts is a place you can escape to and enjoy hearty adventures that you won’t find elsewhere. I truly love a I read this book a couple of years ago and, for some unknown reason, never continued on. It was just as wonderfully magical as I remembered, a breath of fresh air during what is usually a stressful time of year for me. I have yet to find a story that feels so pure and childlike that appeals to such a broad range of people.

There’s something for everyone here; whether you are 10 or 100, Hogwarts is a place you can escape to and enjoy hearty adventures that you won’t find elsewhere. I truly love all of the characters and feel the entire cast is well done, but my personal favorites are the Weasley twins, Hagrid, and Professor McGonnall. While I’ve seen all the movies and know the general storyline, I’m really excited to experience the story “first hand” and see what all was left out from the films. I’m also intrigued to find out more about each house, especially the ones that took a backseat in this story. Not sure if I can say anything that hasn’t been said before, but I loved it! Buddy read with Sam of Clues and Reviews!

I’m putting aside precious reading time to try and formulate a review for y’all so you should be grateful (and not attack me for my rating) So clearly, I had a very very sad childhood since I had not read Harry Potter, Percy Jackson, or any other of those “must-read-or-else-you-never-experienced-happiness-as-a-child” kind of books. But I was actually a pretty happy kid. Harry Potter #1 was a GOOD book. It was fascinating, it was adventurous, it was different, and it was also average. No I’m putting aside precious reading time to try and formulate a review for y’all so you should be grateful (and not attack me for my rating) So clearly, I had a very very sad childhood since I had not read Harry Potter, Percy Jackson, or any other of those “must-read-or-else-you-never-experienced-happiness-as-a-child” kind of books.

But I was actually a pretty happy kid. Harry Potter #1 was a GOOD book. It was fascinating, it was adventurous, it was different, and it was also average. Now, I don’t mean average in a bad way, I mean that there was nothing in the book that made me gasp or cry or shout out in frustration or anticipation. It was a good book, nothing more nothing less.

I just want to say!! ALL OF YOUR JUDGEMENT IS CLOUDED by your nostalgia!! – there I said it, bye.

Everyone read this book as a kid, and yes that’s AWESOME im soooooooo happy for you and that you get to experience your childhood all over again with rereads. However comma as a person who’s reading this book with purely unbiased (im giving myself too much credit here) eyes, I have come to the professional conclusion that this book will not IN FACT knock your woolen socks off. But it’s definitely fun to read. The writing is clear, it’s easy to binge, its short and to the point without over-wordy prose. The plot was interesting. The characters were fun (thought Harry Potter is suffering from a serious case of Special Snowflake Syndrome). So yes, it was a nice read.

But so were many other books I read this year and this one definitely didn’t instill some newfound love in my soul for magic and wizards and woolen socks – I already have enough there, initially. I’m just fricken glad I’m starting to get all the references all you muggles throw around all the time.

Don’t worry, I will most definitely be continuing with this series.:))) “It takes a great deal of bravery to stand up to our enemies, but just as much to stand up to our friends.” 3 stars!! ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ YES, YOU READ THAT RIGHT. I'M FINALLY STARTING THIS SERIES AFTER YEARS OF IGNORANCE.

(more like I've been bullied into this) but hey, now I'll know what the colourful hat sorting names mean.:))) Buddy read with the wonderful, and. Current project: re-reading HP. My history: I was a young adult when this first book came out, and the print book never really grabbed me when I gave it a try. I found that I very much enjoyed the American audiobooks with Jim Dale narrating, however, so I read the first few books this way. But this came to an end when I misplaced the fourth book and no longer had a long commute--I never did reach the end of that wretchedly long quidditch game, so I gave up.

But here it is, 2015 and I'm trying ag Current project: re-reading HP. My history: I was a young adult when this first book came out, and the print book never really grabbed me when I gave it a try. I found that I very much enjoyed the American audiobooks with Jim Dale narrating, however, so I read the first few books this way. But this came to an end when I misplaced the fourth book and no longer had a long commute--I never did reach the end of that wretchedly long quidditch game, so I gave up. But here it is, 2015 and I'm trying again! This time I'm doing the wonderful Stephen Fry narration on audio. It's interesting to come into these books after all this history, both in the sense of the cultural impact of these stories as well as the knowledge of how much children's lit, as art and as industry, has changed for the better because of them.

Re-read reaction: 3.5 stars With this first book (and I suspect with the next few), I still feel the way I did before. I admire the incredibly imaginative ideas so much, but the writing isn't quite as rich or the character development isn't quite as deep/emotional as I'd like just yet.

It's a pretty straightforward story, albeit one embellished with fantastic details. But I LOVE HERMIONE GRANGER, always have, and I've heard the later books are much darker. And it's still a lovely experience to have the books read to me like a bedtime story. My favorite parts of this book: The mirror of Erised, owl post (pleeease may I have an owl), and the thing hidden under the turban. And: It takes a great deal of bravery to stand up to our enemies, but just as much to stand up to our friends. Well done, Neville.

You deserved the same number of house points as the other children, in my book. The first HP novel is already a classic. I have read it in the original English and the (slightly disappointing IMHO) French translation because my kid, just a few months after starting reading, plunged head first into this book and only resurfaced after the last one. I never made it past the 3td book but admittedly really enjoyed this book.

It is the most light-hearted and funny of the series despite the darkness of the One Who Cannot Be Named. The universe created by Rowling is one of the most The first HP novel is already a classic. I have read it in the original English and the (slightly disappointing IMHO) French translation because my kid, just a few months after starting reading, plunged head first into this book and only resurfaced after the last one.

I never made it past the 3td book but admittedly really enjoyed this book. It is the most light-hearted and funny of the series despite the darkness of the One Who Cannot Be Named. The universe created by Rowling is one of the most complete and compelling ones ever for kids - that I will freely admit. I obviously would love to witness a quiddich match and go to a class dealing with mandrakes and eat in that fabulous dining hall. That being said, it seems to be quite a lonely life - the idealisation in a sense of pensions for kids of rich (or in this case) magical families is perhaps a tad disturbing when you want to be a more hands-on parent and these parents apparently have no issue with only seeing their kids on holidays and during the summer. I am not sure I could do that, but that is just me perhaps.

An extremely entertaining and memorable tale that my kids both adored in both book and movie form! Just finished reading HP1 aloud to my son in English and found it to be very enjoyable. The plot does stick together, the characters are endearing (I love Ron's little side remarks about Hermione in the beginning), and the imagination Rowling deployed to create this magical universe is astounding. I cannot believe that this first book is already 20 years old!

It has really aged well. I cannot really point to any weaknesses at all. It was entertaining and a pure joy to share with my son - his first time through in English! I believe I will set a 2017-2018 goal to finish all 7 books this time around!

Finished #2 on audiobook so on to Azkaban now.

• 223 (UK Edition) • 332 (2014 UK Edition) • 309 (US Edition) • 336 (2013 US Edition) • 256 (illustrated Edition) Followed by Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone is a written by British author. It is the first novel in the series and Rowling's, first published in 1997.

It was published in the United States as Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone by in 1998. The plot follows, a young who discovers his magical heritage as he makes close friends and a few enemies in his first year at the. With the help of his friends, Harry faces an attempted comeback by the dark wizard, who killed Harry's parents, but failed to kill Harry when he was just 15 months old. The novel won most of the British book awards that were judged by children and other awards in the US. The book reached the top of the New York Times list of best-selling fiction in August 1999 and stayed near the top of that list for much of 1999 and 2000.

It has been translated into at least seventy three other languages and has been made into a of the same name, as have all six of its sequels. Most reviews were very favourable, commenting on Rowling's imagination, humour, simple, direct style and clever plot construction, although a few complained that the final chapters seemed rushed.

The writing has been compared to that of, one of Rowling's favourite authors,, whose works dominated children's stories before the appearance of Harry Potter, and the Ancient Greek story-teller. While some commentators thought the book looked backwards to Victorian and Edwardian stories, others thought it placed the genre firmly in the modern world by featuring contemporary ethical and social issues. Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone, along with the rest of the Harry Potter series, has been attacked by several religious groups and banned in some countries because of accusations that the novels promote, but other religious commentators have written that the book exemplifies important viewpoints, including the power of self-sacrifice and the ways in which people's decisions shape their personalities. The series has been used as a source of in, and marketing. As the main title suggests, the plot centres on a which is believed by some to give immortality Eleven-year-old Harry Potter has been living an ordinary life, constantly abused by his surly and cold uncle and aunt, and bullied by their spoiled son Dudley. His life changes on the day of his eleventh birthday when he receives a letter of acceptance into a, delivered by a half-giant named after previous letters had been destroyed by Vernon and Petunia. Hagrid explains Harry's hidden past as the wizard son of and, who are a wizard and witch respectively, and how they were murdered by the most evil and powerful dark wizard in history,, which resulted in the one-year-old Harry being sent to live with his aunt and uncle.

The strangest bit of the murder was how Voldemort was unable to kill him, but instead had his powers removed and blasted away, sparking Harry's immense fame among the magical community. Hagrid introduces Harry to the, bringing him to places filled with wonder and magic like, a hidden London street where Harry purchases his pet owl Hedwig and his various school supplies, and, where he uncovers a fortune left to him by his parents in his vault. There, he is surprised to discover how famous he truly is among witches and wizards, who refer to him as 'the boy who lived'.

A month later, Harry leaves the Dursleys' home to catch the from 's secret Hogwarts platform,. On the train, he befriends fellow first-year and, whose snobbiness and affinity for spells initially causes the two boys to dislike her. There, Harry also makes an enemy of yet another first-year,, who prejudices against Hermione due to her being the daughter of, a term used by wizards and witches that describe ordinary humans with no magical ability. Arriving at Hogwarts, the first-years are assigned by the magical to that best suit their personalities, the four Houses being,, and.

Harry hears from Ron about Slytherin's dark reputation which is known to house potential dark witches and wizards, and thus objects to being sorted into Slytherin despite the Hat claiming that Harry has potential to develop under that House. He winds up in Gryffindor instead with Ron and Hermione while Draco is sorted into Slytherin, like his whole family before him. As classes begin at Hogwarts, Harry discovers his innate talent for flying on broomsticks despite no prior experience, and is recruited into his House's Quidditch (a competitive wizards' sport played in the air) team as a Seeker, which is said to be the most difficult role. He also comes to dislike the school's Potions master,, who is also the Head of Slytherin House that acts biased to members of his House while perpetually looking for opportunities to fail Harry and his friends.

The peaceful school year is interrupted by the entrance of a troll into the school, which causes school-wide panic and the discovery of a huge three-headed dog standing guard over a trapdoor in a forbidden corridor. Coupled with Snape's recent leg injury as well as behaviour, the recent events prompt Harry, Hermione and Ron to suspect him to be looking for a way to enter the trapdoor.

Hermione forbids the boys from investigating for fear for expulsion, and instead makes Harry direct his attention to his first ever Quidditch game, where his broomstick begins to lose control and threatens to throw him off. This leads Hermione to suspect that Snape is jinxing Harry's broom due to his strange behaviour during the match. After the excitement of winning despite the odds has died down, Christmas approaches and Harry receives an invisibility cloak from an anonymous source claiming that the cloak belonged to Harry's father. Using the cloak to explore the school at night to investigate the possibility of what is under the trapdoor, he discovers the Mirror of Erised, in which the viewer sees his or her deepest desires come true.

A visit to Hagrid's cottage at the foot of the school leads the trio to find a newspaper report stating the attempted robbery of a Gringotts vault—a vault that Hagrid had gone to take something while showing Harry around. A further indiscretion from Hagrid allows them to work out that the object kept under that trapdoor is a, which grants its user immortality as long as it is constantly used, as well as the ability to turn any metal into pure gold. Harry is also informed by a centaur named in the forest that a plot to steal the Stone is being orchestrated by none other than Voldemort himself, who schemes to use it to be restored back to his body and return to power.

When the school's headmaster is lured from Hogwarts under false pretences, Harry, Hermione and Ron fear that the theft is imminent and descend through the trapdoor themselves. They encounter a series of obstacles, each of which requires unique skills possessed by one of the three, and one of which requires Ron to sacrifice himself in a life-sized game of wizard's chess. In the final room, Harry, now alone, finds Quirinus Quirrell, the Defence Against the Dark Arts teacher, who had been the one working behind the scenes to kill Harry by first jinxing his broom and then letting a troll into the school. Snape had been trying to protect Harry instead, who had wronged him. Now, Quirrell is partly by Voldemort, whose face has sprouted on the back of Quirrell's head that is constantly concealed by his oversized turban.

Voldemort needs Harry's help to get past the final obstacle: the Mirror of Erised, forcing him to stand before the Mirror. It recognises Harry's lack of greed for the Stone and surreptitiously deposits it in his pocket. As Quirrell attempts to seize the stone and kill Harry, his flesh burns on contact with the boy's skin, and Quirrell burns alive. Harry awakes in the school's infirmary, where Dumbledore explains his survival against Voldemort to be owed to his mother's sacrifice for him to live, leaving a powerful protective charm on Harry that lives in his blood, burning Quirrell, a being possessed by hatred and greed. He also reveals himself as the one who sent Harry's his father's invisibility cloak, while Quirrell has been left to die by Voldemort and the Stone has now been destroyed. The eventful school year ends at the final feast, during which Gryffindor wins the House Cup. Harry returns to Privet Drive for the summer, neglecting to tell them that the use of spells is forbidden by under-aged wizards and witches and thus anticipating some fun and peace over the holidays.

Main characters [ ] • is an orphan whom Rowling imagined as a 'scrawny, black-haired, bespectacled boy who didn't know he was a wizard.' She developed the series' story and characters to explain how Harry came to be in this situation and how his life unfolded from there. Apart from the first chapter, the events of this book take place just before and in the year following Harry's eleventh birthday. Voldemort's attack left a lightning bolt-shaped scar on Harry's forehead, which produces stabbing pains whenever Voldemort is present. Harry has a natural talent for and became the first person in decades to get on their team in their first year. • is Harry's age and Rowling describes him as the ultimate best friend, 'always there when you need him.' He is freckled, red-haired and quite tall.

He grew up in a fairly large pure-blood family as the sixth born of seven children. Although his family is quite poor, they still live comfortably and happily. His loyalty and bravery in the face of a game of Wizards Chess plays a vital part in finding the Philosopher's Stone. •, the daughter of an all-Muggle family, is a bossy girl who has apparently memorised most of the textbooks before the start of term. Rowling described Hermione as a 'very logical, upright and good' character with 'a lot of insecurity and a great fear of failure beneath her swottiness'. Despite her nagging efforts to keep Harry and Ron out of trouble, she becomes a close friend of the two boys after they save her from a troll, and her magical and analytical skills play an important role in finding the Philosopher's Stone.

She has bushy brown hair and rather large front teeth. • is a plump, diffident boy, so forgetful that his grandmother gives him a, although he cannot remember why. Neville's magical abilities are weak and appeared just in time to save his life when he was eight.

Despite his timidity, Neville will fight anyone after some encouragement or if he thinks it is right and important. •, a half-giant nearly 12 feet (3.7 m) tall, with tangled black hair and beard, was expelled from and his was snapped in half (resulting in him never to use a wand again), however let him stay on as the school's, a job which enables him to lavish affection and on even the most dangerous of magical creatures.

Hagrid is fiercely loyal to Dumbledore and quickly becomes a close friend of Harry, Ron and, later, Hermione, but his carelessness makes him unreliable. •, a tall, thin man who wears half-moon spectacles and has silver hair and a beard that tucks into his belt, is the headmaster of Hogwarts, and thought to be the only wizard Voldemort fears. Dumbledore, while renowned for his achievements in magic, he shrugs off praise, he is aware of his own brilliance. Rowling described him as the 'epitome of goodness'. •, a tall, severe-looking woman with black hair tied in a tight, teaches, and sometimes transforms herself into a cat. She is Deputy Headmistress, and Head of Gryffindor House and, according to the author, 'under that gruff exterior' is 'a bit of an old softy'.

•, the sister of Harry's mother, is a thin woman with a long neck that she uses for spying on the neighbours. She regards her magical sister as a freak and tries to pretend that she never existed. • is the husband of Petunia Dursley, is a heavily built man whose irascible bluster covers a narrow mind and a fear of anything unusual.

• is an overweight, spoiled bully, and cousin of Harry Potter (who uses Harry as his punching bag). • is a slim, pale boy who speaks in a bored. He is arrogant about his skill in, and despises anyone who is not a pure-blood wizard – and wizards who do not share his views. His parents had supported Voldemort, but changed sides after the dark wizard's disappearance, claiming they had been. Draco avoids direct confrontations, and tries to get Harry and his friends into trouble. • is Harry's Quidditch captain for the Gryffindor Quidditch team. He plays as keeper.

• is a twitching, stammering man who teaches. Reputedly he was a brilliant scholar, but his nerve was shattered by an encounter with. Quirrell wears a turban to conceal the fact that he is voluntarily possessed by Voldemort, whose face appears on the back of Quirrell's head. •, who has a hooked nose, sallow complexion and greasy black hair, teaches, but would prefer to teach Defence Against the Dark Arts. Snape praises pupils in Slytherin, his own House but seizes every opportunity to humiliate others, especially Harry. Several incidents, beginning with the shooting pain in Harry's scar during the start-of-term feast, lead Harry and his friends to think Snape is a follower of Voldemort. •, the school caretaker who knows the school's better than anyone else except, possibly, the Weasley twins.

His cat, Mrs. Norris, aids his constant hunt for misbehaving pupils. Other members of staff include the dumpy teacher and Head of Hufflepuff House,, the tiny and excitable teacher, and Head of Ravenclaw House, the soporific teacher,, a ghost who does not seem to have noticed his own death; and, the Quidditch coach, who is strict, but a considerate and methodical teacher. The wanders around the castle causing trouble wherever he can. In the book, Rowling introduces an eclectic cast of characters. The first character to be introduced is Vernon Dursley, Harry's uncle.

Most of the actions centre on the eponymous hero, an orphan who escapes his miserable childhood with the. Rowling imagined him as a 'scrawny, black-haired, bespectacled boy who didn't know he was a wizard', and says she transferred part of her pain about losing her mother to him. During the book, Harry makes two close friends, Ronald Weasley and Hermione Granger. Ron is described by Rowling as the ultimate best friend, 'always there when you need him'. Rowling has described Hermione as a 'very logical, upright and good' character with 'a lot of insecurity and a great fear of failure beneath her swottiness'.

Rowling also imagined a supporting cast of adults. The headmaster of Hogwarts is the powerful, but kind wizard, who becomes Harry's confidant; Rowling described him as 'epitome of goodness'. His right hand is severe, who according to the author 'under that gruff exterior' is 'a bit of an old softy', the friendly half-giant, who saved Harry from the Dursley family, and the sinister Severus Snape.

Professor Quirrell is also featured in the novel. The main antagonists are, an elitist, bullying classmate and, the most powerful evil wizard who becomes disembodied when he tries to kill baby Harry. According to a 1999 interview with Rowling, the character of Voldemort was created as a literary foil for Harry, and his was intentionally not fleshed-out at first: The basic idea. Harry, I saw Harry very very very clearly. Very vividly.

And I knew he didn't know he was a wizard. [.] And so then I kind of worked backwards from that position to find out how that could be, that he wouldn't know what he was. [.] When he was one year old, the most evil wizard for hundreds and hundreds of years attempted to kill him. He killed Harry's parents, and then he tried to kill Harry—he tried to curse him. [.] And—so—but for some mysterious reason, the curse didn't work on Harry. So he's left with this lightning bolt shaped scar on his forehead and the curse rebounded upon the evil wizard, who has been in hiding ever since. Development, publication and reception [ ] Development [ ] The book, which was Rowling's debut novel, was written between approximately June 1990 and some time in 1995.

In 1990 Jo Rowling, as she preferred to be known, wanted to move with her boyfriend to a flat in and in her words, 'One weekend after flat hunting, I took the train back to London on my own and the idea for Harry Potter fell into my head. A scrawny, little, black-haired, bespectacled boy became more and more of a wizard to me. I began to write Philosopher's Stone that very evening. Although, the first couple of pages look nothing like the finished product.' Then Rowling's mother died and, to cope with her pain, Rowling transferred her own anguish to the orphan Harry.

Rowling spent six years working on Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone, and after it was accepted by Bloomsbury, she obtained a grant of £8,000 from the, which enabled her to plan the sequels. She sent the book to an and a publisher, and then the second agent she approached spent a year trying to sell the book to publishers, most of whom thought it was too long at about 90,000 words. Barry Cunningham, who was building a portfolio of distinctive fantasies by new authors for, recommended accepting the book, and the eight-year-old daughter of Bloomsbury's chief executive said it was 'so much better than anything else'. Publication and reception in the United Kingdom [ ]. Imitation of the fictional at the real, with a luggage trolley apparently halfway through the magical wall Bloomsbury accepted the book, paying Rowling a £2,500, and Cunningham sent to carefully chosen authors, critics and booksellers in order to obtain comments that could be quoted when the book was launched. He was less concerned about the book's length than about its author's name, since the title sounded like a boys' book to him, and he believed boys preferred books by male authors. Rowling therefore adopted the just before publication.

In June 1997, Bloomsbury published Philosopher's Stone with an initial print-run of 500 copies in hardback, three hundred of which were distributed to libraries. Her original name, 'Joanne Rowling', can be found in small print on the copyright page of this first British edition. (The 1998 first American edition would remove reference to 'Joanne' completely.) The short initial print run was standard for first novels, and Cunningham hoped booksellers would read the book and recommend it to customers. Examples from this initial print run have sold for as much as US$33,460 in a 2007 Auction. Lindsey Fraser, who had supplied one of the comments, wrote what is thought to be the first published review, in on 28 June 1997.

She described Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone as 'a hugely entertaining thriller' and Rowling as 'a first-rate writer for children'. Another early review, in, said, 'I have yet to find a child who can put it down.' Newspapers outside Scotland started to notice the book, with glowing reviews in, and, and in September 1997, a magazine that specialised in children's books, gave the novel four stars out of five. Rated it as 'the most imaginative debut since '; a view echoed by the ('comparisons to Dahl are, this time, justified'), while called it 'a richly textured novel given lift-off by an inventive wit' and said it had 'all the makings of a classic'. In 1997 the UK edition won a and a gold medal in the 9 to 11 year-olds category of the.

The Smarties award, which is voted for by children, made the book well-known within six months of publication, while most children's books have to wait for years. The following year, Philosopher's Stone won almost all the other major British awards that were decided by children. It was also shortlisted for children's books awards adjudicated by adults, but did not win. Sandra Beckett comments that books which were popular with children were regarded as undemanding and as not of the highest literary standards – for example the literary establishment disdained the works of, an overwhelming favourite of children before the appearance of Rowling's books.

In 2003, the novel was listed at number 22 on the 's survey. Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone won two publishing industry awards given for sales rather than literary merit, the Children's Book of the Year and the Booksellers' Association / Bookseller Author of the Year. By March 1999 UK editions had sold just over 300,000 copies, and the story was still the UK's best-selling title in December 2001. A edition was published in May 1998 by the Scottish Braille Press., from which the Hogwarts Express left London, was commemorated in the real-life with a sign and a trolley apparently passing through the wall. Original U.S. Cover of Sorcerer's Stone UK to American translation examples UK American mum, mam mom motorbike motorcycle fries crisp chip jelly jacket potato baked potato jumper sweater bought the U.S. Rights at the in April 1997 for US$105,000, an unusually high sum for a children's book.

They thought that a child would not want to read a book with the word 'philosopher' in the title and, [ ] after some discussion, the American edition was published in September 1998 under the title Rowling suggested, Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone. Rowling claimed that she regretted this change and would have fought it if she had been in a stronger position at the time. Has pointed out that the change lost the connection with, and the meaning of some other terms changed in translation, for example from ' to '. While Rowling accepted the change from both the British English 'mum' and Seamus Finnigan's Irish variant 'mam' to 'mom' in Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone, she vetoed this change in the later books, which was then reversed in later editions of Philosopher's Stone. However, Nel considered that Scholastic's translations were considerably more sensitive than most of those imposed on British English books of the time, and that some other changes could be regarded as useful.

Since the British editions of early titles in the series were published months prior to the American versions, some American readers became familiar with the British English versions due to buying them from online retailers. At first the most prestigious reviewers ignored the book, leaving it to book trade and library publications such as and, which examined it only by the entertainment-oriented criteria of children's fiction. However, more penetrating specialist reviews (such as one by Cooperative Children's Book Center Choices, which pointed out the complexity, depth and consistency of the world Rowling had ) attracted the attention of reviewers in major newspapers. Although and Michael Winerip in The New York Times complained that the final chapters were the weakest part of the book, they and most other American reviewers gave glowing praise. A year later the US edition was selected as an, a Best Book of 1998, and a 1998 Best Book of the Year, and won 's Book of the Year Award for 1998, the School Library Journal Best Book of the Year, and the American Library Association Best Book for Young Adults.

In August 1999, Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone topped the New York Times list of best-selling fiction, and stayed near the top of the list for much of 1999 and 2000, until the New York Times split its list into children's and adult sections under pressure from other publishers who were eager to see their books given higher placings. 's report in December 2001 on cumulative sales of children's fiction placed Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone 19th among hardbacks (over 5 million copies) and 7th among paperbacks (over 6.6 million copies). In May 2008, Scholastic announced the creation of a 10th Anniversary Edition of the book that was released on 1 October 2008 to mark the tenth anniversary of the original American release. For the fifteenth anniversary of the books, Scholastic re-released Sorcerer's Stone, along with the other six novels in the series, with new cover art by in 2013. Translations [ ].

See also: highlighted the influence of, whom Rowling has greatly admired since the age of twelve. Both novelists encourage re-reading, because details that look insignificant foreshadow important events or characters much later in the story-line – for example Sirius Black is briefly mentioned near the beginning of Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone, and then becomes a major character in the third to fifth books. Like Austen's heroines, Harry often has to re-examine his ideas near the ends of books. Some social behaviour in the Harry Potter books is remininiscent of Austen, for example the excited communal reading of letters. Both authors social behaviour and give characters names that express their personalities. However in Nel's opinion Rowling's humour is more based on and the names she invents are more like those found in stories,: 13–15 and noted that many of these express their owners' traits through that run from ancient Roman mythology to eighteenth-century German literature.

Rowling, like the series' author, thinks there is no rigid distinction between stories for children and for adults. Nel also noted that, like many good writers for children, Rowling combines ‍—‌,, boarding school stories, and many others.: 51–52 Some reviewers compared Philosopher's Stone to the stories of, who died in 1990.

Many writers since the 1970s had been hailed as his successor, but none had attained anything near his popularity with children and, in a poll conducted shortly after the launch of Philosopher's Stone, seven of the ten most popular children's books were by Dahl, including the one in top place. The only other really popular children's author of the late 1990s was an American,. Some of the story elements in Philosopher's Stone resembled parts of Dahl's stories; for example, the hero of lost his parents and had to live with a pair of unpleasant aunts‍—‌one fat and one thin rather like Mr. Dursley, who treated Harry as a servant. However Harry Potter was a distinctive creation, able to take on the responsibilities of an adult while remaining a child inside. Librarian Nancy Knapp and marketing professor Stephen Brown noted the liveliness and detail of descriptions, especially of shop scenes such as. Tad Brennan commented that Rowling's writing resembles that of: 'rapid, plain, and direct in expression.'

Admired 'the sort of playful details of which only British fantasists seem capable' and concluded that they worked because Rowling enjoys a quick giggle and then moves briskly forward. Described the early Harry Potter books as looking back to and children's stories: was an old-style in which the teachers addressed pupils formally by their surnames and were most concerned with the reputations of the houses with which they were associated; characters' personalities were plainly shown by their appearances, starting with the Dursleys; evil or malicious characters were to be crushed rather than reformed, including cat Mrs Norris; and the hero, a mistreated orphan who found his true place in life, was charismatic and good at sports, but considerate and protective towards the weak. Several other commentators have stated that the books present a highly society including many. However Karin Westerman drew parallels with 1990s Britain: a class system that was breaking down but defended by those whose power and status it upheld; the multi-ethnic composition of Hogwarts' students; the racial tensions between the various intelligent species; and school bullying. Susan Hall wrote that there is no in the books, as the actions of officials are unconstrained by laws, or any kind of legal challenge.

This provides an opportunity for to offer his own horrific version of order. As a side-effect Harry and Hermione, who were brought up in the highly regulated Muggle world, find solutions by thinking in ways unfamiliar to wizards.

For example, Hermione notes that one obstacle to finding the Philosopher's Stone is a test of logic rather than magical power, and that most wizards have no chance of solving it. Nel suggested that the unflattering characterisation of the extremely conventional, -conscious, materialistic Dursleys was Rowling's reaction to the family policies of the British government in the early 1990s, which treated the married heterosexual couple as the 'preferred norm', while the author was a. Harry's relationships with adult and juvenile wizards are based on affection and loyalty.

This is reflected in his happiness whenever he is a temporary member of the Weasley family throughout the series, and in his treatment of first and later and as father-figures.: 13–15, 47–48 Legacy [ ] Sequels [ ] The second book,, was originally published in the UK on July 2, 1998 and in the US on June 2, 1999. Was then published a year later in the UK on July 8, 1999 and in the US on September 8, 1999.

Was published on 8 July 2000 at the same time by and. Is the longest book in the series at 766 pages in the UK version and 870 pages in the US version. It was published worldwide in English on June 21, 2003. Was published on July 16, 2005 and sold 11 million copies in the first 24 hours of its worldwide release.

The seventh and final novel,, was published on July 21, 2007. The book sold 11 million copies within 24 hours of its release: 2.7 million copies in the UK and 8.3 million in the US. Illustrated Version [ ] An illustrated version of Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone was released on October 6, 2015, with illustrations by Jim Kay. The book carries over 100 illustrations and will be followed by illustrated versions of all seven books from the series by the same artist. Film version [ ]. Main article: In 1999, Rowling sold the film rights of the first four Harry Potter books to for a reported £1 million ($1,982,900). Rowling demanded that the principal cast be kept strictly British but allowed for the casting of Irish actors such as the late as Dumbledore and of foreign actors as characters of the same nationalities in later books.

After, filming began in September 2000 at and in London, with production ending in July 2001. Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone was released in London on 14 November 2001. Reviewers' comments were positive, as reflected by an 80% Fresh rating on and by a score of 64% at, representing 'generally favourable reviews'. Video games [ ]. Main article: Five unique video games by different developers were released between 2001 and 2003 by, loosely based on the film and book: Developer Release date Platform Genre Notes 15 November 2001 / 67.35% 65/100 66.98% 64/100 73% N/A 68.37% 64/100 28 February 2002 Adventure/puzzle N/A N/A Port of Windows version 9 December 2003 Action-adventure 63.31% 62/100 57.90% 56/100 61.82% 59/100 Uses in education and business [ ] Writers on education and business subjects have used the book as an. Writing about clinical teaching in medical schools, Jennifer Conn contrasted Snape's technical expertise with his intimidating behaviour towards students; on the other hand Quidditch coach Madam Hooch illustrated useful techniques in the teaching of physical skills, including breaking down complex actions into sequences of simple ones and helping students to avoid common errors.

Joyce Fields wrote that the books illustrate four of the five main topics in a typical first-year sociology class: 'sociological concepts including culture, society, and; stratification and;; and '. Stephen Brown noted that the early Harry Potter books, especially Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone, were a runaway success despite inadequate and poorly organised marketing. Brown advised marketing executives to be less preoccupied with rigorous statistical analyses and the 'analysis, planning, implementation, and control' model of management. Instead he recommended that they should treat the stories as 'a marketing masterclass', full of enticing products and brand names. For example, a real-world analogue of was introduced in 2000 by toymaker.

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