Harry Potter Fever...

And So it begins all over again!

Well actually, it began a little after the first book in the Series was published and Harry Potter and the Philosper's Stone had more or less been transformed by word of mouth and some slick marketing by Bloomsbury's Press into a global phenomenom! Or perhaps... it's not fair to say that. The book ACTUALLY sold itself and opened up a hirtherto unknown world of imagination to kids.

Kids had been having it easy (or hard depending on how you look at it) and not given the opportunity to use their own imagination in the way that books are wont to do to you. Multimedia, Television, Video Games were basically the order of the day (they still are to a large extent) and kids were plugging in to already created worlds and fantasies and not necessarily creating one for themselves!

I remember as an 8 year old kid myself the Enid Blyton books I read. She had the ability to take you away into her world of fairies, golliwogs, elves, kid detectives and once you were there, you just started creating and expanding this world until you made it your very own! Hans Christian Anderson book of fairy tales was also a favorite. And who can forget Archie comics? Tintin? Asterix adventures? Ah! Those were the days!

Joanne Kathleen Rowling has become a force to reckon with as well. Credited with bringing kids back to reading books, having her books translated into various languages and into a hugely successfull movie franchise (you cant avoid it can you?!) and becoming a billonaire in the bargain! This a woman who was once on welfare! (can you imagine?!)

To be honest I wasnt interested in the Harry Potter books when they first came out. They got up to Book 5 before I was snatched bodily and dumped on the bandwagon. I was in a London bookstore buying a book in another long running series (Wheel of Time). I was told I would have to come back the next day to pick up the book. I had been looking forward to reading that book that day and looked round to see if I couldnt pick up something else to occupy my time until the next day. Harry Potter happened to be sitting on a display stand right next to me (the book not the boy). I purchased "The Philospher's Stone" and took it it home with me.
When I went back the next day to pick up my ordered book, I purchased Books 2 - 5!!! Been hooked ever since!

Waiting for Book 6 was such an interesting experience. There is a whole sub-culture of Harry Potter on the internet, I joined internet forums dedicated to discussing plots and snippets of the series. You can sign up to become a student of Hogwarts (the training school for Wizards and Witches), answer questions to determine what house you would be 'sorted' into in Hogwarts and so much more...

When Book 6 was released, I was in Nigeria and it didnt go on sale immediately there. Luckily I was leaving for Sweden via London and Amsterdam and I was sure I would get it in one of those cities. But alas! It was sold out in ALL the London bookstores I went to (it sold 2 million copies in the UK on the day of release) sold out in Amsterdam as well, I had to wait till Stockholm in maybe the 6th bookshop I tried before finding a copy!

And now I know the date for the release of the 7th and final book. Before it was announced, you were able to slip it to the back of your mind. It's coming but you dont know when exactly! Now I know and it ranks right up there with going home to Nigeria in May and my brother's wedding in June! Ok.. maybe not the wedding but still....

Let's see how many records this one will break. Oh Gosh I can hardly wait!!!