Once your son or daughter has been introduced to the Harry Potter book series, they will want to continue reading about these characters. In part, this series is popular because the characters are also children when the series begins, making empathy very easy. Also, these stories echo the “tried and true” formula of placing ordinary people (in this case, Harry, Ron and Hermoine) in extraordinary circumstances, to see how they fare. This plot device is always effective. To combine it with true elements of the fantasy genre was a stroke of genius on the part of J.K. Rowling, and is probably why these books have been so successful.
Many parents buy the books one at a time, using the reward of the next book in the series as positive reinforcement for good grades, i.e., doing household chores, etc. Other parents have experienced the academic and nonacademic benefits of living with children who now love to read, and who have learned the skills of concentration and attentiveness that regular reading provides. These parents may elect to purchase the entire series of books, thus assuring their sons or daughters will be happily engrossed for some time to come.
A third group of parents initially started purchasing each book as it became available, and now wants to purchase the entire series as collector’s items, in the same way they might invest in encyclopedias. The advantage here is that the children have single copies to share with uninitiated friends, while having the secure knowledge that even if their good deed has an unfortunate result, i.e., the loaned book is lost or damaged, they have “backup” copies of each novel in the series.
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