Harry Potter the movie opens tonight, and I'll be there, along with some of my favorite muggles: lilymab, lukwam, LL, and Jeff. Now, I'm not really a die-hard Harry fan, but the books were fun (yes, I read all of them) and I expect the movie will be pretty spectacular. J.K. Rowling, in my professional opinion, isn't the best children's book author and her books aren't destined to be classics (except in the minds of marketing directors and ad agencies), but they did spark a wonderful resurgence in children reading books for pleasure. And whatever does that gets an exuberant "Huzzah!" from the Vieve.
While we're on the Harry Potter subject... Some of you might not know that there are many censorship battles across the country, in the UK, and in Australia over the Harry Potter books' "promotion of witchcraft and satanism." Uh, yeah, ok... You can read more about it at the kidSPEAK! website, and here's one of the anti-Harry sites. There's even a video, produced by a Baptist church pastor from Forida, warning parents that "children as young as kindergarten are being introduced to human sacrifice, the sucking of blood from dead animals and possession by spirit beings." All righty then...
Also, check out this bit of weirdness I found: Harry Potter vs. Mr. T!
Now for a shameless plug... If you have little kiddies on your Christmas/Hannukah/whatever list, check out the Parents' Choice Holiday Gift Guide. A plethora of quality books, toys, music, videos and software, assembled (in part) by yours truly. So much cool stuff, and I guarantee you can find something for every kid on your list, and even some things that grownups will love too.
Posted by thevieve at November 16, 2001 8:21 AM