We need more JK Rowlings

JK Rowling, the author of the Harry Potter books, gave the commencement address at Harvard University this year. I just thought I'd like to share it here. She extolled the benefits of failure and imagination and I was pretty touched by her speech - not only the text, but her style of delivery which is very down-to-earth. But this post is not about the commencement address :)

University President Drew Gilpin Faust applauded her selection as commencement speaker, saying, "No one in our time has done more to inspire young people to … read."

I can't agree more. Many parents and teachers owe a debt of gratitude to JK Rowling because she has made books fashionable again with the younger crowd.

Getting the younger generation to read books is an uphill task in today's digital world and we need more authors like JK Rowling. Not only can she create memorable characters and weave plots, she writes in a very reader-friendly manner. It is this latter skill that I find is often lacking in many authors of junior literature. Roald Dahl is the other author who has it. His plots are original, zany and clever, his writing style humorous.

Son No 1 read Roald Dahl when he was 8 years old. Book after book after book. When he ran out of Roald Dahl, he (or rather I) could not find another author which could hold his attention. When he was 10-11 years old, he read a series of books called Mr Midnight but it is, what I would call, popcorn literature. For this pre-teen age group, there are a large number of books written for girls but noticeably fewer for boys. I can understand the commercial reasons for that. But it is not helpful to parents of boys who are trying to get their sons to read.

It was not until Son No 1 discovered JK Rowling that he began reading again. He has watched all the Harry Potter movies but in order to know the ending to the series, he had to read the 6th and 7th book. That's when he got hooked. Having tasted Rowling's narrative, he was not contented with the movie offerings. So he started reading all the earlier books. Again and again. In fact, for his school's monthly book review assignment, he has been writing about Harry Potter's books every month.

We need more authors like JK Rowling. Meanwhile, I am collecting reading lists from schools and shortlisting them for Son No 1's consumption.