Aug

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Harry Potter - Keep the Grandkids Reading

Posted by maureen

August 1, 2007 |

My grandkids love books and while most of them are too young to be Harry Potter fans I find it quite remarkable and inspiring to realize that J.K. Rowling has done something almost magical. She has managed to get millions of youngsters all over the world to set aside their video games, iPods, DVD, internet and cell phones to read. 784 pages to be exact. No small feet! She did it, of course with the help of magic and wizardry and proved to all of us those kids (and some adults) everywhere love a good story as much to day as they always have. I hope that my grandkids keep their love of books for ever!

Einstein Quote:

If you want your children to be intelligent, read them fairy tales. If you want them to be more intelligent, read them more fairy tales.

    • Shipments were synchronized to arrive no more than a day (or hours) before the scheduled July 21 12.01 a.m. release. All this to minimize the risk of someone’s leaking the books ending.
    • In July 2007 the U.K. newspaper the Daily Telegraph reported that it had been bought by more than 10% of the British population in the 5 days since its release.
    • On the book’s first day of sales, it sold 11 million copies in the UK and U.S breaking the record of 9 million held by “Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince” (the sixth book)
    • In the U.S., 8.3 million hardcover were sold during the first 24 hours, breaking the record of 6.9 million set by the sixth book.
    • Scholastic Corp (their US publisher) printed a record first printing in publishing of 12 million copies.
    • Scholastic hired enough trucks to deliver Deadly Hallows that they would have stretched 15 miles if lined bumper to bumper
    • Every trailer in the convoy had a GPS transponder that would alert Scholastic by e-mail if the driver veered of designated routes.
    • Joanne (JK) Rowling ranks 891 on The World’s Billionaires 2007 .
    • In March 2001 she was awarded an OBE (Order of the British Empire) by the Queen, for services to children’s literature.

    Is she richer than the Queen?

    She is worth £500 Million

    The Queen is worth £250 Million
    In terms of writing she is the richest author in the world.

    Check out Harry Potter Currency Converter. It will convert the wizard money (Galleons, Sickles and knuts) to dollars. For example, dragons liver cost 17 sickles an ounce in the book which converts to $4.82

    In 2001 the Isle of Man issued the first of a series of Harry Potter coins. These are real coins which are legal tender in the Isle of Man


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