Programme Outline
In programme two we meet Julia Eccleshare - Children's book editor for the Guardian newspaper - who talks about the overwhelming success of the Harry Potter stories. She describes how readership of the books was built up by children themselves, who were avidly reading the first book Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone and then recommending it to friends and passing the book from one to another on a scale never seen before in children's literature. This culminated in the children's unprecedented landslide vote for the book to win the Smarties Prize. This programme includes short archive clips of comments made by the author herself.
More than just books
The trio involved in this programme are three teenage girls from Scotland who were so devastated by the void left in their lives after completing reading the fourth title in the Harry Potter series that they decided to create their own website. These 'freakish fans' - as they describe themselves - are Rowan, Kat and Fiona. In response to reading the Harry Potter stories, the girls wanted to play a part in maintaining the world of magic created by children all over the world.
The phenomenon
Julia Eccleshare describes the impact on sales of Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone after it was awarded the Smarties prize, and looks at how the Harry Potter craze was born. We are told of bookstores that held sleepovers for fans wanting to buy the next volume, of how the author was mobbed by fans at King's Cross Station and how children themselves created this Harry Potter phenomenon rather than media hype.
Harry online
There are hundreds of Harry Potter websites but Rowan, Kat and Fiona wanted to create their own. They recognised the universal appeal of the Harry Potter books and wanted to share their enthusiasm with fans across the world.
Building a site
The girls got together in the holidays - working, eating and sleeping together to research everything that they could about the Harry Potter books, focusing on such aspects as spells and characters. They collected newspaper cuttings. Once they had collected all the information they needed, they considered design elements such as colour and font size and style. They then had to create their web page, which they launched under the title 'Harry Potter and the Freakish Fans of Linlithgow'.
What's on the site?
Fiona, Kat and Rowan wanted to create a site unlike anyone else's and they discovered that although sweets and food were integral to the stories, no other websites contained recipes. They looked at many of the favourite foods from the books and created Muggle recipes for them.
Onto the web
It was very exciting for the girls to monitor how many people visited their website when it was launched. The site enabled the girls to chat with other Harry Potter fans and they enjoyed receiving emails from children and teachers all over the world. They regularly update the information on the site.
Harry for sale
With the success of the books came the merchandising, as children increasingly wanted to become involved in all elements of the Harry Potter phenomenon. Popular extracts from the film Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone are shown, which creates opportunities for discussing how well the filmmakers have interpreted what the readers see in their mind's eye.
Forever Harry
Over one hundred million Harry Potter books have been sold worldwide, as a result of children's enthusiasm to the characters and stories. It would be interesting to discuss with the children if they imagine that their enthusiasm will be sustained over the planned next three titles, and what they think will become of Harry as he grows up.
