Harry Potter hype has also reached New Zealand . The visuals are run and re-run of the excited (and sometimes bewildered) children at the opening of a bookstore, waiting for the stock to be rolled out.

I read a quotation from a critic's column yesterday - he seems to think that reading HP is about as intellectually stimulating as watching an episode of Neighbours

Whatever he thinks, tens of thousands of the books have been sold, prompting me to wonder if the hype around the book has transferred to the ownership of the book, rather than a real desire to read it, for reading's sake?

A bit like owning ALL the Pokémon toys?