Beacham's Sourcebook For Teaching Young Adult Fiction: Exploring Harry Potter

by Elizabeth D. Schafer

Guides readers of the Harry Potter series to appreciate the books' literary qualities more fully. Literary analysis of each book is followed by a brief list of activities for extending readers' enjoyment, such as projects, discussion questions, and activities for developing writing and critical thinking skills. Projects and discussion questions are designed to be incorporated into classroom lesson plans. A timeline places factual and fictional events in context with Harry Potter topics, Great Britain, and world history. Includes profiles of characters, animals, plants, and objects in the stories, and lists and briefly describes myths and legends that contribute to the novels. Schafer completed graduate courses in children's literature and creative writing at Hollins University. Annotation c. Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)

Genres: Harry Potter, Nonfiction, Reference, Magic, Literary Criticism, Childrens, Literature

528 pages, Hardcover

Published September 15, 2000

Reviews

[Ih8JaneAusten · Rating 1 out of 5]

You would think a sourcebook for teaching would actually have its facts straight. Not this book. It credits lines to characters that never said them, great research.

[Irene]

If you're looking to read a book that analyzes aspects of the Harry Potter series, I would stay clear of this one. On the surface the book looks well-organized with chapters on characters, settings, mythology, archetypes and other literary devices that I enjoy reading about. This sourcebook was published in 2000 just as Goblet of Fire was released, so it really only covers books 1-3. The interesting pieces of information found in this book are covered much more thoroughly in the Ultimate Unofficial Guide to the Mysteries of Harry Potter, a series of books that I loved to delve into. This sourcebook has too many errors to count. From simple errors like misspelling Crabbe as "Crabb" to irritating errors like stating that Voldemort was raised by Muggle foster parents. Then there are the errors that have nothing to do with Harry Potter like her statement that Jane Austen wrote Jane Eyre. That's such an obvious error that it makes me think that many of her observations, particularly those dealing with history, could also have factual errors. And if that's the case, there's no point in reading this book.

[Wendy E. · Rating 1 out of 5]

I said it best when I rated this book for Amazon:
I see now why I found this book at a thrift store. Utter crap. The author summarizes the books but even that is poorly written. My daughter and I are intense fans of this series having read the books and seen the movies multiple times and I can tell you there were so many mistakes in this book. Things like when the author describes that the students in the wizarding world wear typical teen attire (jeans, tshirts and tennis shoes) under their robes....no they don't. They wear a school uniform. Then the author tried to compare each character to corresponding characters/Gods from mythology. She says that Hagrid can be compared to Poseidon for his command of water. WHAT IS SHE TALKING ABOUT?? Hagrid didn't have a command of water. Many of the assumptions in this book are downright wrong. If you have it and you have a fireplace, toss it in the fire to warm your toes while you read the real thing.

[J. Ewbank · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was an interesting book for me. I liked the Harry Potter series very much and was interested to see what somebody could write about these novels. I found it to be a good research job and one that keeps your interest in learning about Harry Potter.

J. Robert Ewbank author "John Wesley, Natural Man, and the'Isms'"

[Marissa · Rating 5 out of 5]

There is so much symbolism in this book. It shows reasons why JK Rowling chose the words she uses, the names of places and people. There's so much info in this awesome little book. I would not be willing to give this up...ever.

[Jaime · Rating 1 out of 5]

Poorly researched, shoddily executed. Rather embarrassing.

[Jennifer Braxton · Rating 3 out of 5]

I found this on the discount book rack, but I barely made it partway into the book. Meh.

[Daniel Bruce · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is perfect for Harry Potter lovers! Before I got this book, I noticed Stephen King mentioned it, which is on the back of the book. This book has everything to do with Harry Potter. J.K. Rowling's story, creating Harry Potter, what Mythology's are in the books, Harry Potter and the Bible connection, Fan Following, Quizzes from the books and more! I Really recommend this book to Potterheads!!

[Emma Kolditz Jensen · Rating 3 out of 5]

Actual rating: 3.5. Read for university project on Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone.

[Deborah · Rating 1 out of 5]

I have started this book twice and read to about halfway through and just can't make it the rest of the way because it is so boring. It is not written well. The information, which should be interesting, is presented in such a way as to make you dread even opening up the book. I had it on my nightstand and didn't read for several nights because I couldn't bring myself to open it up again. I finally moved it and put another book there and felt great relief. There are only two books I have ever not finished...and this is one of them...and I have tried twice. Bleh!

[Heather Andrews · Rating 4 out of 5]

I loved this book. I got it years ago after perhaps the first three novels had come out and much of the information was wasted on me at the time. Now, as a teacher and scholar, I have come to appreciate the easy flow, layout, and organization of this book. The information is definitely useful, delving into such topics as character names, Hogwarts history, Harry's history combined with the history of magic in general, including a teacher's guide. This is a great book for anyone who likes Harry Potter and wants to know a bit more, or for anyone teaching one of the first three novels.

[Archie Lewallen · Rating 1 out of 5]

Horrible researched and painful to read. The book was grasping for straws on its comparisons to other literatures. The chapter on greek mythology specifically was out of place and made no sense. It listed several Greek Gods but failed to actually find similarities to Harry Potter. The book also covered only books 1-3 so a lot of the book is speculation on how the series will end. The author also appears to need an entire page of $15 words ignored to make a statement that could have easily been summarized in 1 sentence. Basically this book is utter crap.

[Aurora Batty · Rating 3 out of 5]

I decided it might be interesting to read therefore I checked out out of my local library. There is plenty of theories and breakdown of characters and character relations. There is a section as a biography to JK Rowling. I skipped that section all together and pretty much read the highlights and skimmed the rest. It is after all a textbook of sorts and it was writes as dryly as a textbook. In short it was slightly interesting but pretty boring. Also it only encompasses through tbr first three books and mentions the fourth soon to be released therefore the information wad outdated.

[Victoria · Rating 3 out of 5]

i read this as a sourcebook for a World Literature paper that touched upon Rowling's use of mythology within Harry Potter. Was pretty useful, but for a sourcebook it seemed a bit informal or even uncertain at times.

[Kimberly · Rating 3 out of 5]

I used this book as a reference for an essay I did on Harry Potter in college. Some aspects of the book were interesting, but I came up with more ideas on my own just re-reading the books.

[Cait · Rating 3 out of 5]

a bit loopy but all in all a good read

[Mark Trenier · Rating 1 out of 5]

This was really a poor example of how to write a sourcebook. The questions are mostly at a basic level and any teacher with half an ounce of inspiration could come up with better activities.

[Michelle · Rating 1 out of 5]

For a sourcebook it sure does have a lot of wrong information, mispellings, and added unnecessary thoughts flying around