Rowling, J.K
Grandpre, Mary
Fantasy Fiction
5th and up
Scholastic Inc, 1998
Summary: This book is about a young boy named Harry Potter. The book starts out at his aunt and uncles house. They are the Dursleys and they live on Privet Drive. The Dursleys had one child and his name was Dudley. One day Professor Dumbledore, Hagrid, and Professor McGonagall brought Harry to their doorstep. The Dursleys raised him, not liking him very much at all. Unexplainable things would happen and the Dursleys did not like this at all. One day they went to the pet shop and there was a boa constrictor and the glass had just vanished. When Harry was a baby his mother and father were killed. He had no recollection of this happening other than green flashed. The Dursleys had an idea that Harry had something special about him. One day letters start arriving to Harry. Harry is unaware of where these letters could be coming from, he has yet to find out that he is a wizard, but the Durselys have an idea and are absolutely mortified. They wouldn’t let Harry read these letters but they began coming by the dozens. On Harry’s eleventh birthday Hagrid came to get him. He had been accepted to the school of Hogwarts school of Witchcraft and Wizardry. They boarded a train and headed for London. When they stopped the bought everything that Harry needed, including his new owl, Hedwig. He also needed a wand and they went to the store and there was a man named Mr. Ollivander, who told Harry that he sold the wand that put the scar on his face. After they were done shopping they went to the train that took them to Hogwarts, Nine and 3 quarters. Here is where he meets his friends Fred, George, and Ron Weasley. They enjoy their trip eating chocolate frogs. This is also were Neville Longbottom is introduced when he loses his toad, what he is known for. On the train Harry also meets Hermione Granger and they talk about what house they think they will be living in. Then Malfoy and his gang are introduced into the story, being very mean and rude to Harry. They arrive to Hogwarts where they will put on the sorting hat to see which house they will live in. The sorting hat looks deep inside their minds to see where they best fit at. They hat sings a little song and begins his sorting. All of Harry’s friends are Gryffindor’s and then it is Harry’s turn. The hat thought he might fit in Slytherin, but Harry knew he didn’t want that. The sorting hat then puts him into Gryffindor. Later on Harry meets Quirell, and when he does he gets a sharp pain in his scare. People began talking all over the school that the famous Harry Potter now attended there. Everyone wanted to get a glance of him. Professor Snape disliked Harry very much. Harry did not know why. He would call on him in class and Harry would not know the answer and he would be very mean to him. One day the Daily Prophet came out saying that Gringott had been broken into. It was broken into on Harry’s birthday. This is the part of the book where Harry starts questioning things. During flying lessons Malfoy threw a glass ball into the air, and Harry chased after it. Professor McGonagall took Harry out of class and went to see Oliver Wood who was head of the Quidditch team for Gryffindor house. They wanted Harry to be the seeker, and sure enough he was. Harry was given a Nimbus Two Thousand which was the best broomstick you could get. During the first Quidditch match Harry lost control of his broomstick and was flying all over the place. When Hermione looked at Snape she saw he was saying a spell under his breath and thought that he was the cause of this so she did a charm and he caught on fire. Then Harry regained control of his broomstick. Later in the book Harry receives a cloak with a letter on it saying that it was his fathers. This was an invisibility cloak. One night Harry went walking around and someone heard him so he hid in a room. He came upon a mirror, and when he looked into this mirror he could see his family, for the first time. He went and told Ron about this mirror and they went back and when Ron looked into the mirror he saw himself holding the Quidditch cup. They heard someone and ran back to their room. That night Professor Dumbledore talked to Harry. He told him that this was the Mirror of Erised and when you look in it you see your hearts deepest desire.
They began doing some research to find out who Nicolas Flamel was. They found out that he was the only known maker of the Sorcerers Stone. The stone transforms anything into gold, and also produces an elixir that makes you immortal. They were all onto Snape and thought that he was trying to steal the stone. They would overhear him and Quirrell talking, and Quirell always seemed so scared of Snape.
One day Hagrid was at the bar, and what he wanted more than anything was a dragon but dragons were illegal. A stranger ended up giving Hagrid a dragon egg and Hargrid took it back to his house for it to hatch. While taking care of it Malfoy finds out that there is a dragon and wants to use this against Harry and his friends. Harry tries to come up with a way to get rid of the dragon so that Hagrid does not get into trouble. He writes a letter to Charlie, Hagrids brother. Charlie writes them back saying to have the dragon, Norbert, on the highest building of Hogwarts and he will get it. While they are trying to do this they get caught outside and are given detention.
The night for them to serve detention comes and they have a very unusual mission to accomplish. Hagrid takes them to the woods and they see silver liquid everywhere. He says that this is unicorn blood and only a desperate soul would kill a unicorn. While they are walking in the woods they meet Ronan, who was half man half horse. They came upon the unicorn and it was dead. A hooded figure came out of the woods and began drinking its blood. They try very quickly to get Harry out of the woods. They tell Harry that unicorn blood will keep you alive even if you are nearly dead but at a terrible price. You will have a half life and a very cursed life if you drink this blood. Harry later asked him about the hooded figure at the bar that gave him the dragon’s egg. They realized that when Hagrid was drunk he had told the person how to settle Fluffy down, the 3 headed dog that guarded the door to the stone. They think that it was Snape or Voldemort. Harry and his gang decide to take matters into their own hands. That night they go to get the stone. First they go threw Fluffy the dog, and get past him. Then there is Devils Snare, the plant that tries to choke you. Then they came upon what they thought were birds, but they were winged keys flying all over the room. They picked the one with the damaged wing and they were right. In the next room there was a huge game of chess. The next room had 7 different shaped bottles some are poison and some are wine. They figured out the puzzle and Harry drank the liquid turning him into ice. He walked across the fire, and he knew someone was there. It was Quirell who admitted to trying to kill Harry during the Quidditch match. Snape knew he was doing this and was saying a spell to try and help Harry. The mirror of Erised was also in the room with them, and this was the key to finding the stone. Then Harry thought to himself what he wanted more than anything was to find the stone before Quirell did. Then all the sudden a voice came from Quirell, telling him to use the boy. Quirell unwrapped his turban and it was Voldemort. He was too weak to have his own body, but the unicorn blood helped make him a bit stronger. Harry tried to get out through the flames and the next thing he knew he woke up in a bed with Dumbledore standing over him. He told him that the stone had been destroyed and he also told him that Snape disliked Harry because Harry’s father once saved his life and he felt he was living in debt. At the end of the story Slytherin won the house cup but the Dumbledore awarded points to Harry, Ron, Hermione and Neville and they ended up winning at last. Then they all go home for the holiday.
Grandpre, Mary
Fantasy Fiction
5th and up
Scholastic Inc, 1998
Summary: This book is about a young boy named Harry Potter. The book starts out at his aunt and uncles house. They are the Dursleys and they live on Privet Drive. The Dursleys had one child and his name was Dudley. One day Professor Dumbledore, Hagrid, and Professor McGonagall brought Harry to their doorstep. The Dursleys raised him, not liking him very much at all. Unexplainable things would happen and the Dursleys did not like this at all. One day they went to the pet shop and there was a boa constrictor and the glass had just vanished. When Harry was a baby his mother and father were killed. He had no recollection of this happening other than green flashed. The Dursleys had an idea that Harry had something special about him. One day letters start arriving to Harry. Harry is unaware of where these letters could be coming from, he has yet to find out that he is a wizard, but the Durselys have an idea and are absolutely mortified. They wouldn’t let Harry read these letters but they began coming by the dozens. On Harry’s eleventh birthday Hagrid came to get him. He had been accepted to the school of Hogwarts school of Witchcraft and Wizardry. They boarded a train and headed for London. When they stopped the bought everything that Harry needed, including his new owl, Hedwig. He also needed a wand and they went to the store and there was a man named Mr. Ollivander, who told Harry that he sold the wand that put the scar on his face. After they were done shopping they went to the train that took them to Hogwarts, Nine and 3 quarters. Here is where he meets his friends Fred, George, and Ron Weasley. They enjoy their trip eating chocolate frogs. This is also were Neville Longbottom is introduced when he loses his toad, what he is known for. On the train Harry also meets Hermione Granger and they talk about what house they think they will be living in. Then Malfoy and his gang are introduced into the story, being very mean and rude to Harry. They arrive to Hogwarts where they will put on the sorting hat to see which house they will live in. The sorting hat looks deep inside their minds to see where they best fit at. They hat sings a little song and begins his sorting. All of Harry’s friends are Gryffindor’s and then it is Harry’s turn. The hat thought he might fit in Slytherin, but Harry knew he didn’t want that. The sorting hat then puts him into Gryffindor. Later on Harry meets Quirell, and when he does he gets a sharp pain in his scare. People began talking all over the school that the famous Harry Potter now attended there. Everyone wanted to get a glance of him. Professor Snape disliked Harry very much. Harry did not know why. He would call on him in class and Harry would not know the answer and he would be very mean to him. One day the Daily Prophet came out saying that Gringott had been broken into. It was broken into on Harry’s birthday. This is the part of the book where Harry starts questioning things. During flying lessons Malfoy threw a glass ball into the air, and Harry chased after it. Professor McGonagall took Harry out of class and went to see Oliver Wood who was head of the Quidditch team for Gryffindor house. They wanted Harry to be the seeker, and sure enough he was. Harry was given a Nimbus Two Thousand which was the best broomstick you could get. During the first Quidditch match Harry lost control of his broomstick and was flying all over the place. When Hermione looked at Snape she saw he was saying a spell under his breath and thought that he was the cause of this so she did a charm and he caught on fire. Then Harry regained control of his broomstick. Later in the book Harry receives a cloak with a letter on it saying that it was his fathers. This was an invisibility cloak. One night Harry went walking around and someone heard him so he hid in a room. He came upon a mirror, and when he looked into this mirror he could see his family, for the first time. He went and told Ron about this mirror and they went back and when Ron looked into the mirror he saw himself holding the Quidditch cup. They heard someone and ran back to their room. That night Professor Dumbledore talked to Harry. He told him that this was the Mirror of Erised and when you look in it you see your hearts deepest desire.
They began doing some research to find out who Nicolas Flamel was. They found out that he was the only known maker of the Sorcerers Stone. The stone transforms anything into gold, and also produces an elixir that makes you immortal. They were all onto Snape and thought that he was trying to steal the stone. They would overhear him and Quirrell talking, and Quirell always seemed so scared of Snape.
One day Hagrid was at the bar, and what he wanted more than anything was a dragon but dragons were illegal. A stranger ended up giving Hagrid a dragon egg and Hargrid took it back to his house for it to hatch. While taking care of it Malfoy finds out that there is a dragon and wants to use this against Harry and his friends. Harry tries to come up with a way to get rid of the dragon so that Hagrid does not get into trouble. He writes a letter to Charlie, Hagrids brother. Charlie writes them back saying to have the dragon, Norbert, on the highest building of Hogwarts and he will get it. While they are trying to do this they get caught outside and are given detention.
The night for them to serve detention comes and they have a very unusual mission to accomplish. Hagrid takes them to the woods and they see silver liquid everywhere. He says that this is unicorn blood and only a desperate soul would kill a unicorn. While they are walking in the woods they meet Ronan, who was half man half horse. They came upon the unicorn and it was dead. A hooded figure came out of the woods and began drinking its blood. They try very quickly to get Harry out of the woods. They tell Harry that unicorn blood will keep you alive even if you are nearly dead but at a terrible price. You will have a half life and a very cursed life if you drink this blood. Harry later asked him about the hooded figure at the bar that gave him the dragon’s egg. They realized that when Hagrid was drunk he had told the person how to settle Fluffy down, the 3 headed dog that guarded the door to the stone. They think that it was Snape or Voldemort. Harry and his gang decide to take matters into their own hands. That night they go to get the stone. First they go threw Fluffy the dog, and get past him. Then there is Devils Snare, the plant that tries to choke you. Then they came upon what they thought were birds, but they were winged keys flying all over the room. They picked the one with the damaged wing and they were right. In the next room there was a huge game of chess. The next room had 7 different shaped bottles some are poison and some are wine. They figured out the puzzle and Harry drank the liquid turning him into ice. He walked across the fire, and he knew someone was there. It was Quirell who admitted to trying to kill Harry during the Quidditch match. Snape knew he was doing this and was saying a spell to try and help Harry. The mirror of Erised was also in the room with them, and this was the key to finding the stone. Then Harry thought to himself what he wanted more than anything was to find the stone before Quirell did. Then all the sudden a voice came from Quirell, telling him to use the boy. Quirell unwrapped his turban and it was Voldemort. He was too weak to have his own body, but the unicorn blood helped make him a bit stronger. Harry tried to get out through the flames and the next thing he knew he woke up in a bed with Dumbledore standing over him. He told him that the stone had been destroyed and he also told him that Snape disliked Harry because Harry’s father once saved his life and he felt he was living in debt. At the end of the story Slytherin won the house cup but the Dumbledore awarded points to Harry, Ron, Hermione and Neville and they ended up winning at last. Then they all go home for the holiday.
Response: I absolutely LOVE Harry Potter books. I have currently read them all and this first book is the reason I began reading books in the first place. When I was younger I hated to read, I would rather have been outside playing but my mom purchased me this book so I began to read it and I got hooked. It had been a while since I had read the first book so I really enjoyed reading it once again. This book is bursting with description and that is why I love it so much. I can feel like I am actually a part of the story. I had marked the very first page which I really felt you could visualize the characters. Mr. Dursley was the director of a firm called Grunnings, which made drills. He was a big, beefy man with hardly any neck although he did have a very large mustache. Mrs. Dursley was thin and blonde and had nearly twice the amount of neck, which came in very useful as she spent so much of her time craning over garden fences spying on the neighbors.” I absolutely thought that I could picture these characters just by reading their description. I just felt like everything about this book was so carefully thought out. The platform being 9 and three quarters, and the chocolate frogs that they ate was just all so creative and everything worked so well. I also felt like the names were so carefully thought out and they fit each person perfectly. Hermione is my most favorite character because she is smart and witty. She takes control all throughout the book which I really like. George and Fred are the jokesters and I love to read and see what they are up to next. I picture Ron as being the shy fearful child. Each of them work together so well to make a great team. My least favorite character is of course Malfoy. To me he is just a little brat always looking for attention. I also really like Hagrid because he has such a love for animals and I can relate to that. At the beginning of the book I really hated Snape. I thought that he was behind everything and really was out to get Harry. But at the end of the story you kind of understand why he is the way that he is. Everyone handles situations differently. I also really like how the book keeps you guessing. You never want to put it down because every situation leads to another one and at the end of the book everything fits together perfectly and you just think wow, how did she do this? One of my most favorite parts of the book is chapter 12 the Mirror of Erised. The description and emotion you feel just from this one chapter is overwhelming. “ Harry was so close to the mirror that his nose was touching that of his reflection.” “How long he stood there he didn’t know. The reflection did not fade and he looked and looked until a distant noise brought him back to his senses.” I can actually feel what Harry was feeling in a weird way. I can picture him looking into that mirror, never remembering his parents and then to see them for the first time must have been overwhelming for Harry. Then Dumbledore tells Harry that the mirror shows you your deepest desire, what you long for the most. This was a really powerful part of the book. Then I really enjoyed reading the end. It kept you on the edge of your seat because you wanted to see if Harry was going to find the stone or not. I thought each part Harry had to do to get to the end was so creative. The flying keys, and the liquid that turns your body to Ice all of these you just think to yourself “How did she come up with that?” I also really enjoyed how she ended the book when Harry woke up and Dumbledore told him everything. I just picture Dumbledore as this very caring, gentle individual and you really picture that here. As you can see, I absolutely LOVE reading Harry Potter books and this is one of my most favorite ones.
Teaching Connections: I think that there are many things you can do with Harry Potter books. One great idea would to have the children read a section or event the whole book and then to write what happens next in the series. This would be a creative writing exercise. They could do a play and create their own Harry Potter play. They could look at scale and create their own Hogwarts floor plan. There are so many great activities that you can do with kids with the Harry Potter book and I look forward to using them in my classroom!
3 comments:
I completely agree with you! Even though I had never completely read any of the Harry Potter series bookes before, I felt like I was right there with Harry battling trolls and playing a giant game of chess. It's amazing how many details and adjectives Rowling is able to fit into each small section of writing. No doubt that if any of the characters were to suddenly appear in real life, anyone could tell who they are based on the descriptions Rowling gives.
Hermione is also one of my favorite characters for the same reason. She takes control! I hadn't thought of using this book for a creative writing exercise, but I completely agree. It would be a great exercise to use for students!
I completely agree with everything you said! haha. I would also find myself saying "wow, I never would have thought of that" while reading this book. The descriptions and scenarios she creates amazes me!
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