Comments on: The Harry Potter Phenomenon http://booksandbiscuits.wordpress.com/2008/03/19/the-harry-potter-phenomenon/ A student's perspective on books and publishing Sat, 12 Dec 2009 15:36:42 +0000 http://wordpress.com/ hourly 1 By: elladk http://booksandbiscuits.wordpress.com/2008/03/19/the-harry-potter-phenomenon/#comment-5 elladk Wed, 19 Mar 2008 14:13:15 +0000 http://booksandbiscuits.wordpress.com/?p=6#comment-5 You're right, of course, and probably the fact that spending on children's titles was down on the previous year once you took away Harry Potter means that during the last year (a non-Potter year) spending was up on non-Potter books! I'd hope so at least - it will be interesting to see what happens next year. You’re right, of course, and probably the fact that spending on children’s titles was down on the previous year once you took away Harry Potter means that during the last year (a non-Potter year) spending was up on non-Potter books! I’d hope so at least – it will be interesting to see what happens next year.

]]> By: thula http://booksandbiscuits.wordpress.com/2008/03/19/the-harry-potter-phenomenon/#comment-4 thula Wed, 19 Mar 2008 11:38:58 +0000 http://booksandbiscuits.wordpress.com/?p=6#comment-4 Maybe the statistics are a little twisted by this being a Harry Potter "year". How was the growth of spending on children's literature in the years between Harry Potter books? In my own experience, I'd say that people all buy their children HP books (which would presumably take an 8-year-old a long time to read) when or soon after they come out; in the intervening years, they look around for something similar. Do you remember the "three year summer" (the gap between books 4 and 5)? That was when Newsround got so keen on His Dark Materials - just for something to do, I think. I'm sure other children's literature saw some growth then. So maybe it's not as bleak as it looks, and it will drive children to read other things once they get through that massive tome. The adult literature market, though, has no excuse. :-) I despair of getting my 12-year-old sister to read anything but naff, light-weight series. I bought her a Judy Blume book recently, just to find something of the same length and appearance which is at least well-regarded. She even listens to HP on tape. Sigh. God knows what I was reading at that point, but it certainly wasn't Meg Caboot. Maybe the statistics are a little twisted by this being a Harry Potter “year”. How was the growth of spending on children’s literature in the years between Harry Potter books? In my own experience, I’d say that people all buy their children HP books (which would presumably take an 8-year-old a long time to read) when or soon after they come out; in the intervening years, they look around for something similar. Do you remember the “three year summer” (the gap between books 4 and 5)? That was when Newsround got so keen on His Dark Materials – just for something to do, I think. I’m sure other children’s literature saw some growth then. So maybe it’s not as bleak as it looks, and it will drive children to read other things once they get through that massive tome.

The adult literature market, though, has no excuse. :-)

I despair of getting my 12-year-old sister to read anything but naff, light-weight series. I bought her a Judy Blume book recently, just to find something of the same length and appearance which is at least well-regarded. She even listens to HP on tape. Sigh. God knows what I was reading at that point, but it certainly wasn’t Meg Caboot.

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