Pottermania

I read both kids Harry Potter #1 (The Philosopher's or Sorcerer's Stone) in their young lives. Niall really got into the characters this year and has been asking to be read (subsequent books) also, really enjoying the characters and magic. I read a few as a young adult, but didn't finish the series and have forgotten a lot about the plot, although the characters have stuck with me.

    Spirit Day at school as favorite book character- guess who!

We started watching the films as our Friday night family movies for a while and Iver then started independently started reading the books (which they got as a set from Santa), although not in order (I think he started with #6 to beat us to watching that movie, and then worked his way through all the others).

He is a good reader, although he hasn't been particularly interested in (voluntarily) picking up books just to read "for fun," and often rejects the books I bring home from the library that I think he'll like. However, he just just blazed through the Harry Potter series-- waking up early to read, going to bed later to read, and bringing the book(s) in the car so he could experience the magic. He is a master at HP trivia, and I often find the kids playing "spells" with one another ("Stupefy!"). It's been wonderful to see and witness; however, now that he finished the series, it may be a letdown to find something as good (I definitely know the feeling!). He tells me he may start them all over again, straightaway, since he loves them so much! 

 The Harry Potter completist!  

(Niall and I are only partway through book 4 because Iver stole it from us!)

We have been exploring the idea of taking them to a Harry Potter theme park-- either at Universal Studios in Florida (the bigger one) or in LA, since they're so enamored! I think they're at great ages for this kind of trip, although we hear that it may be better if Niall is a bit older/taller so we (he) can experience some of the more major rides.  We'll see and we’ll see how long the Pottermania lasts!