Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone (Book 1)

The book is engaging with its imagery, humor, plot twists and real-life child problems. The book doesn't only appeal to children but adults as well. She's a master on fantasy. She really can, with no difficulty at all, think herself back to 11 years old. You will love the whimsical descriptions, humorous quotes and the fun characters.


Magnificiant   April 26, 2000
mgately (In Bed)
102 out of 111 found this review helpful

Now and then, A book comes along that makes people enabled to remember every luscious detail. For instance: The Hobbit. You certainly know all about Bilbo Baggins, and you pprobably know all about the author and where it was from. A new book has come along: Harry Potter, especially the first one. I can tell you all of the character's names and traits, all of the Hogwart's houses , and I inhale all of the wonderful info bits Hermoine exhales. Hats off to this one. . . . Ta' Ta'.


Three Harry Potter Books in Three Days!   July 1, 2000
Don Halpern (New Providence, NJ USA)
69 out of 74 found this review helpful

An adult friend (age 49)loaned me three Harry Potter books for the summer. Wednesday evening I began the first book and I finished the third today, Saturday morning. I am writing this review before I order the fourth Potter book. Will my friend be surprised to get 4 books back! The author's imagination is vividly presented in a cast of almost believable characters attending a school we all wish we could attend. Classes like "Defense Against Dark Arts", "Divination", "Transfiguration", "Arithmancy" and "Care of Magical Creatures" are written as if the author actually attended them and certainly enjoyed every minute of class. More than can be said for most of the classes I have attended. Each book in the series encompasses one year of Harry's fascinating life. The Potter books are written in a way that can charm any age reader. I am 64.


I want to go to Hogwarts!   January 31, 2000
Kimberly Taylor (USA)
70 out of 76 found this review helpful

Granted, I lack the basic criterion for being an expert on children's book--I'm 26 years old. For old times' sake, I do try to stay current on what's new in children's book. Compared to almost everything else I've read, Ms. Rowling's Harry Potter series stands far ahead of the pack.

Ms. Rowling takes a classic scenario in British children's literature--adolescent children going to boarding school--and turns it on its head. Usually, all of the exciting stuff happens during school holidays (as in C.S. Lewis' "Chronicles of Narnia" or Enid Blyton's "Five" and "Seven" series). In Harry Potter's world, school holidays are spent among the "Muggles"--the non-magical world--while school is where the magic really happens.

And magic there is! From the wizardly sport of Quidditch to classes in potions to a three-headed dog named Fluffy, Ms. Rowling throws in enough magic to keep the interest of children (and adults) who don't usually like reading. A sparkling plot, realistic (if you can imagine a magical world, then these people belong in it) characters and a fully-realized world combine to create a true gem of children's literature. This one can easily share a shelf with "The Chronicles of Narnia", "Alice in Wonderland" and even "The Hobbit".

Don't miss Harry Potter and his adventures!


Anniversary Edition nice but not essential.   September 16, 2008
George Beahm (Williamsburg, VA USA)
30 out of 30 found this review helpful

In today's economy, customers buying books need to know exactly what they're buying. In this case, what your thirty bucks buys is -- apart from the previously published text (the novel itself) and the previously published art (interior art) -- is, essentially, a new cover by longtime Harry Potter cover artist Mary GrandPre, and a black-and-white illustration by Rowling (quite the cartoonist!), which comprises the "bonus" material Scholastic has been touting but keeping under wraps.

The wraps are off and, while the illustration is nice, Scholastic would be better off issuing either an illustration edition with more art (which, by the way, exists), or taking the momentous occasion of the 10th anniversary to celebrate it in a significant fashion: Rowling, why wasn't there an original interview in which you looked back at the ten years of Harry Potter in the media? Why wasn't there a long essay by a respected literary critic looking at the Harry Potter phenomenon? Why wasn't there MORE text?

If this was simply a reprint edition, the omission of new text would be understandable. But when you're celebrating ten years of Harry Potter in print, how, exactly, does a new cover, a previously published (to the best of my knowledge) illustration for the colored endpapers, and a black-and-white illustration by Rowling "celebrate" the book's publication?

As there is no historical retrospective here, I'd have to say that Scholastic missed the boat: This edition could have been so much more, but it suffers (ironically) from a failure of imagination.

I have rated it five stars because the first novel is a literary classic in the children's field. The publisher, however, needs to think about how to ADD VALUE to the existing edition when touting its "anniversary" status, esp. if they intend on reissuing matching volumes in the future. Otherwise, it comes off as being just another edition to get the fans' hard-earned money, instead of offering something new, different, and significantly improved.