With all the fervor about the latest (and last) Harry Potter movie coming out, it is a great time to pull out the books. In addition to dusting off copies of the various titles in the Harry Potter series, you might want to consider a biography of the author, such as J.K. Rowling: Creator of Harry Potter by Cath Senker.
If you are a fan at all, you probably have heard some of the details of J.K. Rowling’s rise from poverty to fame. She was known to have written much of her the first book while sitting in a cafe. She wrote it out longhand and then typed it on a typewriter. But did you know that name Potter came from Rowling’s childhood friends? Senker has done her research.
Packed full of color photographs and high interest side bars, with titles like “Honors Board,” “Inspiration” and “Wow!” the book will keep a child’s attention. It has several photographs of the movie scenes as well, which will be familiar to the children who are fans.
Cath Senker’s biography includes not only the highlights of J.K. Rowling’s life so far (including why she uses the initials J.K.), but also is a wonderful promotion of reading and writing for children. It contains lists of J.K. Rowling’s favorite books as a child, how she started writing at age six, sidebars with writing tips throughout the book, and in the end is a quiz to test whether you have what it takes to be a writer. An interest in J.K. Rowling’s life might open the door to an interest in language arts, and possibly inspire a future J.K. Rowling.
Reading level: Ages 9-12
Library Binding: 32 pages
Publisher: PowerKids Press; 1 edition (January 2011)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 9781448832880
ISBN-13: 978-1448832880
Nonfiction Monday is a blogging celebration of nonfiction books for kids. We invite you to join us. For more information and a schedule, stop by the new Nonfiction Monday blog to see who is hosting each week.
This week’s post is at proseandkahn.