Aliteracy - something that doesn't apply to any of us...

[catherine at cator-manor.demon.co.uk]

It's not just the movie and the merchandising, it's the audio 
versions as well.  My step grandchildren (no I'm not that old, too 
complicated to explain) are typical.  They would rather play with 
their gameboys and watch videos than curl up with a book.  However, 
the eldest, Rebecca, who is now 10 and slightly dyslexic, became 
interested in HP because her mother and I were enthusiastic about it 
and because some of her friends at school had read it.  However, she 
couldn't be bothered to read it for herself.  When she discovered 
that I had the audio versions she pestered me for weeks to borrow 
them.  I didn't give in - instead we started reading them together 
until she could cope with them on her own.  She's now about to start 
GoF, and isn't in the slightest bit daunted by the length.

What I am trying to say is, that giving her the CDs was an easier 
option - a way for her to "join the club" without any effort on her 
part, so we resisted.   Because she was so interested in the books, 
after struggling initially, her reading has suddenly taken off.  
Thanks Harry Potter!  I am now looking out other things she might 
like (unless she becomes as bad as the rest of us and just wants to 
read Harry over and over...).

I dread to think what would have happened if the movie had come out 
before this happened - she probably still wouldn't be enjoying 
reading.

Catherine


--- In HPFGU-OTChatter at y..., "Rosmerta" <tmayor at m...> wrote:
> Caius wrote: In just a little less than a year, parents will be 
able 
> to do the same thing with Harry Potter - that is pop a crummy movie 
> into the VCR rather than read the story aloud.  
> 
> I've been thinking this very thing ever since I heard about the 
> movie. These are the last few months when the only way for kids 
> to "get" Harry is by reading the books or hearing them aloud. At 
the 
> beginning of this school year, my son was part of just a very few 
> kids his age who were Harry fans, and it was like being in a cool 
> little club that you could only get through a book. 
> 
> But just in the past few months that's already changed because of 
all 
> the junk WB is pumping into the economy--kids have their golden 
> snitch keychains and Hogwarts baseball caps without having to read 
> the books. And once the movie's out, anyone can "be in the club." 
> Maybe that's democratic, but it's a bummer for the bookworms. 
> 
> ~Rosmerta
> Who made her then-3-yr-old watch Cocteau's Beauty and the Beast 
> before he could see the Disney one. Guess what, he liked it!