By The Times/Ledger
Imagine for a moment that on the last day of school your child's fourth-grade teacher handed him or her a 734-page novel and demanded that the book be read in its entirety before classes resume in September. Fat chance.
How remarkable it is then that thousands of children are glued this summer to the ponderous “Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire.” Author JK Rowling has done the darn near impossible. She has introduced a million kids to the joy of reading. She has gone head-to-head with video games and Pokemon cartoons and she has left them in the dust.
In case you've been living under a rock, the “Harry Potter” series is the biggest phenomenon to ever hit the world of children's books. Harry is a 14-year-old orphan and wizard. “The Goblet of Fire,” the fourth in the series, disappeared from the bookshelves of Barnes and Noble and other bookstores within hours after the book went on sale. Some children with the parents in tow actually lined up at midnight to be the first to get their little mitts on this long awaited book.
In short, Ms. Rowling has done the nearly impossible. Well-intentioned teachers throughout America have been trying with not much success to convince kids that reading can be fun. Few would have tried to get a child to read a book with more than 700 pages. Ms. Rowling has tapped into the imagination of millions of children throughout the world. Teachers should be able to build on her success. Parents should feel indebted.
Take that Gameboy. Take that Play Station.
