How My Son Found the Real Magic of Harry Potter

I’m going to admit something to you that I am a little embarrassed to admit. I haven’t told too many people for fear of being ridiculed. But I figure the only way to get past something is to admit it, own it and accept it. So, here goes… are you ready? …. I never read any of the Harry Potter books. There… I said it!

But seriously, I never did. But, my oldest son just finished reading all 7 Harry Potter books for the second time, my daughter is reading them all now for the first time and my family (not me) has watched all the movies several times. So, I do know a little bit about it.

Encouraging Kids to Read

Just like Whoopi Goldberg, my oldest was one of those kids who didn’t enjoy reading because of a learning disability. He would rather play a video game or watch a movie than read a book. I never tried to push it on him because I had hoped that he would find a reason to read at some point. We have always had a lot of books in the house and we encouraged our kids to read, but never pushed.

I don’t remember exactly how old he was, but he asked me to order the first Harry Potter book from the Scholastic Books catalog that came home each month from school. When he got the book, he read it and he really enjoyed it. He wanted to read more of the books and then he moved onto other books. Now, he reads a lot and he reads because he enjoys it, not because he has to read. He is reading the Harry Potter books one after another for the second time right now.

The Real Magic of Harry Potter Sweepstakes

When I was asked to write about a fantastic sweepstakes by Scholastic in exchange for a copy of all 7 Harry Potter books, I was thrilled. Scholastic Books is a huge part of our family. I remember sitting down with those order forms as a kid and agonizing over which book to choose because there were so many options. My kids now do the same thing.

Scholastic Books encourage all families to experience the magical, reading adventure of the Harry Potter series. On June 18, Universal Studios in Orlando is opening the The Wizarding World of Harry Potter™. We were in Orlando last year and got a peak at the new exhibit and my son’s reaction said it all, “AWESOME, Can we come back to Universal Studios next summer?”

Scholastic is having a sweepstakes and 4 lucky families will win a trip to Orlando to visit The Wizarding World of Harry Potter™.  See all the details at the Scholastic website.

Harry Potter Complete Set Giveaway

Scholastic has also offered to give one(1) complete set of Harry Potter paperback books 1 – 7 to one lucky reader. The contest will run until 11:00 pm on May 7, 2010. At that time, I will randomly choose one winner from all the comments below. The winner will have 24 hours to respond. If no response, I will pick another winner.

Shipping Guidelines:  The Harry Potter giveaway is open to participants with a United States mailing address only (international readers can enter if they have a friend in the States who can accept their prizes by mail.)

Retail Value:  Box set retail value is $86.99

To Enter: Follow @Scholastic and tweet about this contest with hashtag #harrypotter and mention @ScrappinMichele. Leave me a comment below after you have tweeted.

For Extra Entries: Do any of the following and leave a comment below for each task you completed. Each item may only be completed once.

• Become a fan (like) of Scholastic on Facebook
• Become a fan (like) of Scraps of My Geek Life on Facebook
• Visit the Scholastic blog and follow the blog (RSS or Google)
• Follow @ScrappinMichele on Twitter
• Follow this blog either by RSS or Google

Good Luck! And don’t forget to check out Scholastic’s national sweepstakes; they are giving away 4 family trips to Universal Orlando Resort’s The Wizarding World of Harry Potter, which opens June 18th!

Disclosure: I was given 1 complete set of Harry Potter books (1-7) in exchange for this post. All opinions are my own.