Carol: Isn’t it possible that without the Harry Potter books, reading rates among kids would be even lower than they are currently? Conversely, if reading rates actually had improved since Harry’s arrival a decade ago, I’d be wary to attribute the improvement to them. Either way, I think it’s difficult to demonstrate a convincing cause and effect–or to say with much certainty what, if any, effect the books have had on literacy.

For what it’s worth, I don’t have much of a stake in this debate: I only just started reading the first book to my daughter and we aren’t far enough into it for me to have formed an opinion.