Harry Potter

Hello, I'm Anna Jones and this is Entertainment.
　　Today we're looking at the continuing popularity of the Harry Potter books
　　written by the British author, JK Rowling. The seventh and final book in the
　　series is due to be published soon and will definitely create as much if not more
　　interest than all the other 6.   The characters of the trainee wizards, Harry
　　Potter and his two friends Ron and Hermione, have appealed to children and
　　adults all over the world.   We asked Jo Jacobs, a children's librarian near
　　London just how popular she thinks the books are.  Well as you'll hear in a
　　moment, she tells us that the books have ”captured the imagination“ of their
　　readers. The phrase ”to capture the imagination“ means to become very
　　interested and excited by something, in this case children and adults have got
　　very interested and excited by all of the Harry Potter books:
　　I think JK Rowling just really captured the imagination – every boy and girl would like to go
　　to Hogwarts and learn how to do magic – adults too. It's just really fun, well written, and
　　exciting.
　　Anna:  Jo says JK Rowling has captured the imagination of every boy and girl. They
　　would all like to go to Hogwarts – the school where Harry and his friends are
　　learning all about magic and how to become wizards.  Jo adds that the books
　　are also very ”well written and exciting.“  She explains what happens at the
　　bookshop each time a new book in the Harry Potter series is published.  What
　　time does she say the bookshops open?
　　Book shops open at midnight especially to launch the look with special events and children
　　dress up as wizards – there's special story times and magic events going on – and they just
　　can't wait to get a copy of the book and start reading it at midnight. I'm one of the people
　　who goes at midnight and buys the book and reads it quickly in a day – because they're real
　　page turners – very exciting books. I'm a big fan
　　Anna:  Jo says that the bookshops open at midnight – a time of the night that is also
　　known as ”the witching hour“ the hour or time of night that legend says that
　　witches are supposed to be around.  So the bookshops open at midnight to
　　”launch“ the new Harry Potter book . The verb ”to launch“ refers to an event to
　　celebrate or introduce something new – in this case the events at the bookshop
　　launch the new Harry Potter book.  At the launch, children ”dress up“ as
　　wizards – they put on clothes that wizards wear such as pointed, black hats,
　　black cloaks and they carry wands.  Everyone gets into the theme of wizards
　　and magic and Jo says that the children ”just can't wait“ to get a copy of the
　　book. If you ”can't wait“ to do something then you  can hardly wait and are
　　very excited and eager to do or experience something.  Jo says that she also
　　goes to the launches at the bookshops because she loves reading the books.
　　What is the expression she uses which means the books are so exciting that you
　　have to read them quickly? Here's Jo again.
　　I'm one of the people who goes at midnight and buys the book and reads it quickly in a day –
　　because they're real page turners – very exciting books. I'm a big fan
　　Anna:  The expression that Jo uses which describes books that are so exciting that you
　　have to read them quickly is ”page turners.“ She says the Harry Potter books
　　are ”real page turners.“   Jo also describes herself as a ”fan“ of the books – a
　　fan is someone who admires and supports somebody or something such as a
　　person, sport or team. Jo is a real fan of the Harry Potter books.
　　Anna:  But what about the size of the books? Most of them have hundreds of pages –
　　they are very long, they are ”huge“. Jo says that most children who go to her
　　library look for thinner ones to read – does that mean they don't choose the
　　longer Harry Potter ones? What does Jo say?
　　Jo Jacobs
　　A lot of children when choosing a book do look for the thinner ones but with Harry Potter it's
　　different and it's great to see them reading huge books and really enjoying it – and I think
　　Harry Potter has really encouraged children to read generally it's really been a great
　　phenomenon.
　　It's great its big and thick – lots in there to get your teeth into.
　　Anna:  Jo says that even though some of the Harry Potter books are very long the
　　children at her library still read them.  She describes them as a great
　　phenomenon,” a phenomenon is something or someone who is extremely
　　successful. She says the books are long but there's lots to “get your teeth into”
　　they're a very interesting and exciting read.
　　Finally I'll leave you with an adult's view of the books. She, like Jo is a big fan
　　and describes the books as “exciting, excellent writing, fast moving, very good
　　and very clever.” She also likes the fact that Harry “matures,” he grows older
　　in each book.