Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone
Rowling, J. K. 1999.
Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone.
Read by Dale, Jim.
Listening Library Audio.
Audio-compact disc. $50.00
ISBN 9780807281956.
Format: audiobook
Rating: 5.0/5.0 stars
Harry Potter is an orphan, a poor lad who lives in a cupboard beneath the stairs with his aunt, uncle and cousin. When he becomes very upset or frustrated, he is able to make things happen without understanding why.
Letting the snake loose at the zoo felt both exhilarating and terrifying to Harry. His punishments often involve much more time locked in his cupboard, besides all the torments from his cousin Dudley and his little gang at school.
While his aunt and uncle know about Harry’s parents and all the witchcraft they participated in, Harry has no idea. That is, until he is invited to attend the Hogwart’s School of Witchcraft and Wizardry.
A whole new world is opening to Harry, one that has been anticipating his arrival – one that knows the story of Voldemort and Harry, and how since infancy Harry has been known as the boy who lived, with a lightening bolt scar to prove it.
Harry begins his wizard training with two new friends: Ron Weasley and Hermione Granger, and learns that there is a secret being protected by an enormous three-headed dog, a secret that these three friends must reveal.
Rowling took such attentive care of her characters that each and every character, from naïve lovable Harry to despicable selfish Dudley to genuinely gifted Hermione is fully developed. From her use of setting and dialogue, each character comes to life.
Rowling’s contrast between Harry: the disheveled young lad who is the perfect bully victim with his baggy clothes and broken glasses and Harry: the legendary hero who survived an evil wizard’s attempt to kill him, is brilliantly written so that readers see Harry transform before their eyes to become a confident and honorable wizard. Harry forms solid friendships, is especially close with Hagrid, Ron and Hermione and shows that he is a loyal and caring friend. In this wonderful new environment, Rowling allows Harry to rely on these friendships, use all of his newfound powers and innate talents for good, offering readers everywhere the chance to see that a victim can triumph and good does sometimes win over evil.
As a non-Brit listener, the audiobook version of Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone, with the voice acting of Jim Dale, adds another dimension to every character as he lends such variety and texture that for those listening – they are truly those characters. Combining the use of audiobook and text allows the struggling reader a chance to listen, make stronger connections to the characters and storyline, hear the accents and slightly odd, unfamiliar language while following along and strengthening their reading ability and vocabulary.
Harry’s world beneath his aunt and uncle’s staircase and being tormented by his cousin Dudley changes abruptly when Harry turns ten and is invited to attend Hogwart’s School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. Discovering that he is a wizard, as were his parents – Harry beings the training necessary, finds true friendship in Ron and Hermione, and discovers that his destiny is to face Lord Voldemort, the one who killed his parents and left him with the lightening bolt scar on his forehead.
Joanne Kathleen (J. K.) Rowling was born in England in July 1965. She earned a degree in Classics and French from Exeter University, which included a year abroad in Paris. She began the Harry Potter series, developing characters and plots for each of the books over a five-year period. With an intermission for marriage and baby Jessica between 1992 and 1995, the series resumed when the marriage ended and she returned to the UK with her daughter.
Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone (England) and Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone (USA) were published in 1997 & 1998 respectively. The series continued with Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets (1998/99), Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban (1999), Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire (2000), Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix (2003), Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince (2005), and Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows (2007). The series, as a whole has been published and distributed in 200 territories and has been translated for 69 different languages.
The noticeable gaps in publication were due in part to J. K. marrying Dr. Neil Murray in 2001 and giving birth to two more children – a boy and another girl, in 2003 and 2005.
(Rowling, 2011).
Fiction: Fantasy – magic/wizards
Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone supports an English class study on the extensive development of characters and setting.
White Cat by Holly Black
The Akhenaten Adventure by Philip Kerr
1) scenes with Harry‘s mail not making it to him, until Hagrid found him with his aunt’s family and delivers the message personally
2) scene of Harry meeting Ron Weasley and Hermione Granger for the first time, and the indicators that they would become lifelong wizarding friends
Book Trailer – N/A
Grades 4 – 7 / Ages 10 and up
magic, wizardry, potions, spells, injury, violence, murder
ALA’s Top Ten Best Books for Young Adults, 2999
Mythopoeic Fantasy Award for Adolescent Literature, 2008
British Book Award for Children’s Book of the Year, 1998
Smarties Prize, 1997
American Booksellers Book of the Year-Children, 1999
West Australian Young Readers’ Book Award, 2001
Rebeca Caudill Young Reader’s Book Award, 2001
South Carolina Book Award for Junior Book Award, 2001
Grand Canyon Reader Award for Teen Book, 2000
Charlotte Award, 2000
Nene Award, 2000
Massachusetts Children’s Book Award, 2000
Colorado Blue Spruce Young Adult Book Award, 2001
Blue Hen Book Award for Chapter Book, 2001
Nevada Young Readers’ Award, 2000
Sasquatch Reading Award, 2000
Golden Archer Award for Middle/Junior High, 2000
Indian Paintbrush Book Award, 2000
Carnegie Medal in Literature Nominee, 1997
I especially love this first book in the Harry Potter series as it inspired so many non-readers and struggling readers to stick with it. Used in many classrooms as a read-aloud to start, this is a fantasy like no other that revived the genre and the series has continued in strength and popularity for over a decade now.
School Library Journal, Booklist, Kirkus Reviews, The New York Times, Publisher’s Weekly
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