JK Rowling now is half-way through a series which has taken the world by storm. Unusually, she has attracted success both in terms of massive sales figures and critical acclaim. This study will look at her books and consider some of the reasons for their phenomenal success. This will be done against a background of how Harry Potter relates to other contemporary children+as books so that students and teachers can place them in the context for which they were written.This book has not been authorized by JK Rowling, her agent, or Warner Bros.