There’s nothing quite like blogging about one of your favorite childhood book series, so as a preface, I’ll start by saying each post for each book will be different. I currently have no guidelines so each post will include different parts of the books I found interesting. Hopefully it will get better as I decide what aspects of the books I will include. But for now here we are, Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone, Chapters 1-10.

I can’t remember when I read this book for the first time, but I forgot how much of the book they had to leave out of the movie. I know I’ll be comparing the books to the movies the entire time that I’m writing this blog series, but I don’t want that to take away from how good the books are on their own.

I knew the Dursley’s were rude and just seriously mean to Harry, but it’s like a whole other level in the books. I know they were given Harry to bring up and wanted nothing to do with him and his parents, but Uncle Vernon, Aunt Petunia, and Dudley are mean! This obviously provides motivation for Harry to want to leave number 4 Privet Drive. When Harry finds out that he actually has a place where he can belong, it comes as a relief when Hagrid finally tells him about Hogwarts and what he has been missing.

What I love now and especially what drew me into the world of Harry Potter the first time I read book one are the descriptions that J.K. Rowling uses. The descriptions and world building that is used when Rowling describes the bookstore, Flourish and Blotts are some of my favorites. She writes, “…where shelves were stacked to the ceiling with books as large as paving stones bound in leather.” These types of descriptions help form a palpable comparison that bring us into another world. Harry Potter was the first fantasy series that I read and liked. Of course I grew up with all the Disney princess movies and books, but Harry Potter was something that I read on my own and it was different, new and interesting. I was intrigued by this different world, but the characters still felt like people I knew or might know from school.

When Harry finally arrived at Hogwarts, I remember thinking how truly magical it all felt. The spells felt real, the creatures and ghosts felt real, and Harry and Ron didn’t look forward to school which I could totally relate to, but the underlying messages of love and acceptance were there and that’s what I think held the story together for me. I wanted what was best for Harry, Ron, and Hermione and wanted them to win whenever Draco did something to try and outsmart them. The first book does such a good job of captivating and reeling in the audience to this magical world and brings them along with the characters that they actually feel like they could be a part of it. This book was just the beginning to a wonderful series.

Let’s just say they don’t create theme parks of made up worlds for no reason! At some point, they were just thoughts on a page in a book.