A muggle’s list of bookish delights

By DAWNELL SMITH
Daily News correspondent

I f the name "Harry Potter" means nothing to you, then you probably live alone on a mountain top. Or in a cave. Or at the bottom of the food chain.

Or maybe you just don’t mingle with muggles, witches, wizards, dragons, owls and young bibliophiles in the youth section of the bookstore or library. If that’s the case, you’ve missed one of most hyped phenomenon in the history of children’s literature.

Plenty of kids love reading and hearing stories, but they literally gobble up their beloved "Harry Potter" books like ice pops on a scorching afternoon. For librarians, teachers and bookstore owners, this media-fueled Potter frenzy has made their work a little more exhilarating.

"It’s really an infusion of enthusiasm," said Jane Baird, youth librarian at the Z J Loussac Public Library.

Baird joins other librarians, parents and teachers in embracing the Harry Potter craze as a means of motivating young people to explore other authors, topics and genres.

Nurturing this passion for the page is the principle goal of the Alaskan reading program known as the Battle of the Books. Since the mid-80s, the summer event has encouraged kids from kindergarten to high school to read and vote for their favorite books from grade-specific lists compiled by librarians and teachers.

This year, the fifth and sixth grade list includes "Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone" by J.K. Rowling as well as "Yolonda’s Genius" by Carol Fenner, "Bridge to Terabithia" by Katherine Paterson and "Knots in My Yo-Yo String: The Autobiography of a Kid" by Jerry Spinelli.

The whole list is "not necessarily what kids would choose — that would be Harry Potter," said Lynn Dixon, owner of Cook Inlet Book Company.

For that reason, the Battle of the Books encourages kids to discover literature they might otherwise overlook, she said. Yet, the lists always include popular entries like this year’s "Lyle, Lyle, Crocodile" by Bernard Waber for first-graders and "Dealing with Dragons" by Patricia Wrede for seventh and eighth grade kids.

Dixon’s store specializes in selling Alaskan work as well as books that support fairs and reading assignments, but she loves the trendy "Harry Potter" series for creating fanatical young bookworms.

"I’ve waited all my life for a book to sell like a Cabbage Patch Doll," she said. "It’s really a craze."

Seeing those wide-eyed children swagger to the counter with 700-plus pages of wizardry fun can give a book fiend goose bumps, which pretty much describes the thrill of a good story. For children, that magic often comes from a blend of adventure, fantasy and mystery, the very ingredients that make "Harry Potter" and "Wizard of Oz" so endearing.

"Most children still enjoy adventure stories and mystery stories," said Ella Brown, reading specialist for the Anchorage School District. "And they still enjoy science themes because they’re curious."

Teachers use these types of books in their curriculum, but they also integrate topics or themes that gain popularity in the community, she said.

When Jurassic Park and Batman hit the big screen a few years ago, many instructors embraced the dinosaur and bat themes in the classroom. In both cases, teachers took advantage of the energy created by fashionable secular events.

"It can be a springboard for the year," explained Brown. Teachers who used the dinosaur theme "didn’t even have to mention Jurassic Park."

Certainly, movies, television and the news put the spotlight on some books, but others have staying power regardless of the current fads.

Preschoolers and toddlers continue to cherish picture books like "Goodnight Moon" by Margaret Wise Brown and "Mama, Do You Love Me" by Barbara M. Joosse while slightly older kids still enjoy hunting for stuff in the "I Spy" and "Where’s Waldo" books.

Other popular selections for early readers include the "Amelia Bedelia" series by Peggy Parish and the "Henry and Mudge" books by Cynthia Rylant, said Kay Myers, a youth librarian at Loussac.

As children get older, they gravitate to stuff like the "Magic Tree House" books by Mary Pope Osborne and the "Adventures of the Bailey School Kids" series by Debbie Dadey, she added.

Kids also devour science fiction and fantasy, said Kim Sorensen, supervisor of the children’s section at Barnes and Noble. Specifically, she noted the popularity of Jane Yolen’s many books about dragons and fairies, and Patricia Wrede’s "Enchanted Forest Chronicles." For younger readers, the funny "Junie B. Jones" series by Barbara Park does the trick, she said.

Teenagers like fantasy and humor, too, but their choices include everything from adventure and suspense to mystery and historical fiction. The diversity of entries in the Letters About Literature 2000 contest shows the range of reading choices by young people. The contest challenges students to write a letter to their favorite author and explain how that writer’s book changed their view of the world.

Alaska’s winners were Lindsey Reyes-Rufelli of Girdwood Elementary/Junior High for her letter to Mary Pipher, author of "Reviving Ophelia: Saving the Selves of Adolescent Girls," and Colony Middle School graduate Jennifer Lewis, who wrote to Stephen Crane about his book "The Red Badge of Courage."

Lewis likes reading mysteries, historical fiction or books with real-life scenarios.

"I really love mystery books," she wrote via e-mail. "They always have some sort of a twist that you never really expect, and that’s something I enjoy in reading. "

Other young readers look for the same unpredictability. When Baird quizzed the kids in the library’s teen book club this summer, she found a wide range of tastes, but a definite love of plot twists. Some of the books she highlighted as favorites include the realistic fiction by Judy Blume, suspense by Margaret Haddix, mysteries by Agatha Christie and adult fiction like George Orwell’s "Animal Farm."

High school students find little time for book clubs once the school year starts, but Baird organizes casual monthly reading events all year long. One popular event known as "mystery night" happens around Halloween and usually attracts 20 or more teenagers.

The library also offers special events for all ages along with regular lapsit and story time programs for preschoolers and toddlers. For more information, call any branch of the public library or pick up the library’s monthly newsletter.

Borders, and Barnes and Nobel bookstores also hold weekly reading events for children.

©2000 Anchorage Daily News