Before visiting Universal Orlando, and in particular The Wizarding World of Harry Potter, I re-read the entire The Complete Harry Potter Collection
The order of the books is:
Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone (Harry Potter, Book 1)
Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets (Harry Potter, Book 2)
Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban (Harry Potter, Book 3)
Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix (Harry Potter, Book 5)
Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince (Harry Potter, Book 6)
Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows (Harry Potter, Book 7)
If you’ve never read the series, I recommend them. The books become more mature in their subject matter (although always still kid appropriate) as they progress through the series. I love how relatable the characters are, and how easy it was to submerge myself into the stories and the magical world. I suppose that’s probably why the movies were so successful, and why the theme park is so popular. And it really does appear that people of all ages love Harry Potter.
I also love that in this series the pursuit of knowledge is glorified. Dumbledore is respected for his intelligence and continuing academic interests. Hermione’s reliance on and genuine interest in reading often saves Harry and Ron. I find this refreshing in an age when reading is often deemed an activity for oddballs, and TV is how most people spend their free time. Not that TV is bad, I certainly watch my fair share. But I believe the saying about only two things making us wiser, the books we read and the people we meet, is largely true. And we would probably all be better off if we did more reading, and less mindless TV watching. But that’s it for my rant. 😉
The Harry Potter series really is wonderful, good fun! And I recommend it for all ages.
My mother-in-law didn’t finish the series because she said she didn’t like how dark it was getting as Harry got older. I’ve always thought, though, that Rowling handled it so perfectly. His awareness of the world and the dangers in it and the struggles he faced grew with him. I’ll always love Harry 🙂
As his encounters with Voldemort increased (in terms of number and severity), I think it had to take a bit of a darker turn because it became serious for all of the characters. But I loved how there were still little fun moments in there. Afterall, in real life we still have fun things happen in the midst of dark times. I totally agree with your assessment. I love these books so much!