HARRY POTTER AND THE ORDER OF THE PHOENIX
By J.K. Rowling
Illustrations by Mary GrandPre
Scholastic, 2004
Today we hear from my other eight-year-old son, who was shocked to discover his favorite Harry Potter book on the Banned Books display at our local library. I managed to pin this cutie down for an interview before school yesterday. Here’s what he had to say…
How many Harry Potter books have you read?
Smart Eight-year-old: Six
Which one is your favorite?
SEYO: Number five … Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix.
Do you think the Harry Potter books should be banned?
SEYO: No!!!!!!!!!!!
Why do you think that some people DO want to ban them?
SEYO: Maybe because of the magic?
What would you say to a person who was worried that the magic you read about in Harry Potter was going to turn you into a magic-practicing lunatic?
SEYO: I would say that even an eight-year-old knows that magic isn’t real.
Who is your favorite character in the books?
SEYO: Hagrid
What are Harry Potter books about, besides magic?
SEYO: Adventures, friends, lots of stuff.
If the seventh Harry Potter book is a billion pages long, are you still going to make Mom read it out loud?
SGB: No. I’ll read it first, Mom, and make sure it is appropriate for you.
Hmmmm. Could he be referring to the fact that I didn’t handle Dumbledore’s death very well? (The man simply CANNOT be dead!) Or is he poking fun at the very idea of banned books? Only the smart eight-year-old knows for sure.