Children's Writing, The HP Phenomenon

Deciding to write a children's novel in the post-Harry Potter era is a daunting task.

Since I rarely read literary criticism as I prefer to judge a book (and its cover) for myself, I never knew that the HP received any criticism, given that the series has sold 400 million copies and be made into video games and put to film.

So in the need to encourage myself further, I allowed myself to be sucked into yet another Wikipedia Wormhole and discovered that a critic/author I much admire, A.S. Byatt in an article published in the New York Times, said that HP is a, "secondary world, made up of patchworked derivative motifs from all sorts of children's literature ... written for people whose imaginative lives are confined to TV cartoons, and the exaggerated (more exciting, not threatening) mirror-worlds of soaps, reality TV and celebrity gossip".

Now don't get me wrong, I do enjoy the HP series. I had a system where I would buy the recent HP book, read a chapter and hand the book to a random child on the subway. So I personally think I contributed greatly to the 400 million copies that were sold.

But I did so because as a child reading was my absolute favorite way to pass the time, and the idea that parents were expected to shell out 30 bucks for a hard cover book for children simply baffled me. While Rowling has been charitable, given her position she should have insisted that a less expensive format be available alongside the hard back release; something should I ever enjoy the success Rowling has I would definitely fight for.

Still, A.S. Byatt's criticisms about aspects of the book that I found a bit too simple are not unfounded. For example Rowling took a lot of the components from mythology, such as the 3 headed dog that guards the Philospher's Stone and many other of the creatures are based on myths.

Rowling herself has stated that Paul Gallico was a huge inspiration for her. A simple search lists countless sites that accuse Rowling of everything including full out plagarism of the Harry Potter name, the idea that Harry Potter was a wizard, and even his scar.

The sad part might be that because children moved away from reading, very few children might pick up and find the references that are so obvious to others.

Last night I completed the first sketch for my book. Every author draws from the books they have read, it's unavoidable. But for my part, I do honestly feel that my story will something new, if only because I have read a considerable amount and believe in the power of my imagination in a way not much different than when I was seven, the age my main heroine is when the story begins.

Line for line I do not think Rowling compares to C.S. Lewis' Chronicles of Narnia, Tolkien's Lord of the Rings, Alice in Wonderland, E.B. White's The Trumpet of the Swan (which I prefer over Charlotte's Web); and cannot compare to the literature that was once considered the domain of children written by Dickens, Hugo, or Dumas (Senior).

But as of last night, the idea of my heroine became more than an idea. She took form in my mind. Like me she has raven hair and big dark eyes. Like me she has a kind heart, a tendency to be naughty, is inventive, precocious, and determined. I believe in her. I believe in the quest I will set her out upon, though it has not yet begun.

A.S. Byatt gave me hope that people do still expect more from children's literature. Philip Pullman's His Dark Materials trilogy, despite its faults gave me even more hope that children want to read intelligent and thoughtful stories and that those stories are still sellable.

But I'm not just writing this story to sell books. I'm writing this story to entertain children, to pay hommage to those writers whose stories kept a lonely little girl company, and ultimately so that one day I might be able to do something good with whatever proceeds I might make.

And plus, now that my little seven year old heroine has come to life, she is every bit a child and not content to sit still in my mind. She wants out and fast. She knows there is a whole world waiting for her and a fantastic journey that is meant for her alone.

I am glad that I will be the first to make this journey with her and hope I will not be the last.