The wildly successful "Harry Potter" series is destined to join "The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe" and "Lord of the Rings" as one of the all-time classic book series for children, says a youth expert praising the series for getting children reading again.
The seven books in the series by author J.K. Rowling have been printed in 67 languages and sold more than 450 million copies worldwide, according to publisher Scholastic.
The subsequent series of films about orphaned wizard Harry Potter and his friends at the Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry have raked in billions in box office revenue around the globe. The final installment premieres on July 15.
Shirley Steinberg, professor of youth studies at the University of Calgary and author of Kinderculture: The corporate construction of childhood, says while the mass-marketing efforts surrounding the series have turned it into "this behemoth of corporate consumerism," the books themselves have the staying power of many long-established children's stories.
"It's another Anne of Green Gables series," Steinberg told Â鶹´«Ã½ Channel on Sunday. "It's going to last. It's got staying power. It's like C.S. Lewis, it's like any of the old-time classics. This is going to be the new classic."
Harry Potter fans both eagerly anticipated and dreaded the publication of the final book, "Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows," in July of 2007. Rowling had long said she only envisioned seven books in the series, but eight films were made to maximize the earning potential of the franchise, with the final book covered over two films.
Rowling also recently announced that Harry and the gang would live on in Pottermore, a website that will include more information for fans about the young wizards and the world they inhabit. The books will also finally be made available in digital form in the fall.
Characters, plotlines pull in readers young and old
Steinberg said the stories' wild popularity with adults is partly explained by the fact they harken back to the sci-fi heyday of the 1980s with the Star Wars series of films, when fantasy was a large part of both books and movies.
"This has brought back some of the memories…for people who liked the Hobbit, who liked Tolkien, and that's really great," Steinberg said. "It also gives us an idea of alternative ways of dealing with the world, so the notion of magic and potions."
Steinberg said for children, the stories reflect classic tales such as "Anne of Green Gables," and "The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe," in that the central characters are children trying to survive on their own.
"There's the pattern of orphan children, children without parents, children who try to find their own way," Steinberg said. "And that sort of captures the imagination of children. What would it be like if I had to find my way in the world?"
Steinberg, who critiques mass-marketing techniques aimed at children and youth, praised the series' ability to reach out to young readers and encourage reluctant readers to pick up a book.
But she finds troublesome the accompanying toys, video games and other consumer products -- what she calls the "corporate intervention."
"I don't like to see the deluge of toys and shirts and hats and brooms, because what I realize is that they start to market before they even create the creation," she said. "So marketing becomes almost more important than the book itself."
