Harry Potter Reading Ladder


HARRY POTTER AND READING LADDERS

            Millions of readers have read and reread the books in the Harry Potter saga. The magical combination of the story of an underdog learning how to become a wizard and defeat evil in all of its many guises struck a responsive chord for so many readers of all ages.  How many times since then have we heard, “Got another one like this?”  That is, in part, the guiding force behind reading ladders.  Students find a good book and now want to continue to read other books “just like it.”  What do students mean when they ask for another book like the one they have read and loved?  Our job as educators is to discover just what appealed to readers.  In the case of Harry Potter, did they fall in love with the magic of Hogwarts and spells and wands?  Or was the attraction more to the story of a young Potter coming into his own as a more and more mature character, wizard or not?  Was the friendship of Hermoine and Ron enticing?  How about all of the clashes against Voldemort and the other nefarious villains?  So, it stands to reason that building a reading ladder for Harry Potter might just take off in many different directions.  Here are only tow possible variations on a Harry Potter Reading Ladder.  Ladder A centers on the magic and the training of a young apprentice.  Ladder B takes readers more into the motifs and archetypes that are present in Rowling’s magnificent world and ties them back to some of the classics of fantasy. 

LADDER A: ABRACADABRA!  MAGICALLY DELICIOUS BOOKS

The Once and Future King by T. H. White

            Inkheart by Cornelia Funke

                        Great and Terrible Beauty (trilogy) by Libba Bray

                                    Immortals series by Michael Scott (Alchemyst, Sorceress, Magician)

                                                Bartimaeus series by Jonathan Stroud

                                                            Skulduggery Pleasant series by Derek Landy

                                                                        Hunchback Assignments by Arthur Slade

                                                                                    Septimus Heap by Angie Sage

                                                                                                Magic Thief by Sarah Prineas

LADDER B:  MOTIFS AND ARCHTYPES IN FANTASY

Lord of the Rings series by J.R.R. Tolkine

Dark Is Rising series by Susan Cooper

Chronicles of Narnia series by C. S Lewis

Abhorsen trilogy by Garth Nix

Golden Compass trilogy by Philip Pullman

Wizard of Earthsea series by Ursula K. LeGuin

Lost Years of Merlin series by T.A. Barron

Circle of Magic series by Tamora Pierce

Redwall series by Brian Jacques

Enchanted Forest series by Patricia Wrede

Wizardry series by Diane Duane

copyright 2010 Teri S. Lesesne