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What's the Truth About Harry Potter Children's Books?
By Cky J. Carrigan, Ph.D.
In December 1999, the first three books in the Harry Potter Series by J.K. Rowling were numbers one, two and three on the New York Times Best Sellers List, selling together more than eight million copies in the U.S. and 30 million copies worldwide. Many Elementary School Teachers and parents across the U.S. are gushing about Harry and rushing to Barnes' and Nobles' to get their copy of Book Four to read to their children. Rowling is undoubtably a captivating story teller of stories for children. But should Christian children be reading Harry or being exposed to his world view at home or in the classroom? I don't think so. Why not? See below:
1) Harry is a "wizard" endowed with magical powers.
2) He attends Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry.
3) He flies on a broomstick, casts spells, interprets images from a crystal ball, and sometimes turns himself into various animals.
Is Harry Potter the most dangerous piece of literature on the market today? NO. But, could these stories set in witchcraft fantasy condition a child to dabble in witchcraft and the occult. Certainly, yes! But what about all the magical fantasy stories in the Boomer's childhood like Cinderella, et. al., did these stories turn Boomers into Real Life Broomers? Nope, but there was very little opportunity for Boomers to embrace witchcraft or neopaganism as an alternative way of life.
The present culture is saturated with opportunities to embrace real live witchcraft as a way of life. This is why exposure to witchery is much more likely to produce real witches today than twenty five years ago. And if you don't think real witchery is prominent in the present youth culture, just ask your kids, or take a tour through your local mega bookstore. The last Books-A- Million I visited displayed thirty-two feet of New Age, Metaphysics and Witchcraft books compared to eight feet devoted to sex. In other words, the former sells four times better than sex. Why take the risk? Perhaps believers should say good-bye to Harry and hello to Pilgrim's Progress or one of the classics from the list below.
Recommended Classics for Younger Children:
Tales of Hans Christian Andersen by Hans Christian Andersen;Winnie-the-Pooh by A. A. Milne; Pollyanna by Eleanor H. Porter; Charlotte's Web by E. B. White; Little House series by Laura Ingalls Wilder; The Velveteen Rabbit by Margery Williams; Aesop's Fables; and Just So Stories by Rudyard Kipling
Recommended Classics for Older Children:
Kidnapped by Robert Louis Stevenson; Little Lord Fauntleroy by Frances Hodgson Burnett; Hans Brinker by Mary M. Dodge; Little Women by Louisa May Alcott; An Old-Fashioned Girl by Louisa May Alcott; The Secret Garden by Frances Hodgson Burnett; A Little Princess by Frances Hodgson Burnett; A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens; The Wind in the Willows by Kenneth Graeme; The Jungle Book by Rudyard Kipling; Anne of Green Gables by L. M. Montgomery; Black Beauty by Anne Sewell; Heidi by Johanna Spyri; Treasure Island by Robert Louis Stevenson; Gulliver's Travels by Jonathan Swift; The Adventures of Tom Sawyer by Mark Twain; Rebecca of Sunnybrook Farm by Kate Douglas Wiggin; The Children's Homer: The Adventures of Odysseus and the Tale of Troy by Padraic Colum.
See what Chuck Colson's web-site says about Harry on Breakpoint (cautious approval) and what Dobson's Focus on the Family (disapproval) says about Harry.
There are also two books about Harry Potter Books written from a Christian perspective. They are Harry Potter and the Bible : The Menace Behind the Magick by Richard Abanes, and What's a Christian to Do With Harry Potter by Connie Neal.
Copyright 1999 by Cky J. Carrigan. All Rights Reserved.
***The views expressed in this article do not necessarily reflect the views of the North American Mission Board, the Southern Baptist Convention, or any other Southern Baptist Church or Agency***