jmh,
The Potter books are truly a sensation in the states. No other books of any kind sell as well. All the kids in my nephew's class love them. As far as I can see, there seems to be little reservation on the part of parents, to their kids reading them. I think most parents feel that these books are a far better activity than TV or computer games. Besides, with the ubiquity of sex and violence in our lives, it's hard to imagine anything in these books to grouse about. Perhaps a word of explanation to kids would be wise, to disabuse any foolish notions they may have of the occult, but stories of the occult have traditionally been a mainstay of children's literature in America as well as Europe. Disney has imprinted the quitessential sorcerer story on every child's psyche, with his animated sequence "The Sorcerer's Apprentice", which has been retained in the sequal to "Fantasia", called "Fantasia 2000". Any parent who objects to stories of this genre for their children, would likely be in the extreme minority.
