It is no secret that Logan is an avid reader. An out of control, cannot-get-him-to-stop avid reader. But it didn't start out this way. When the pandemic first hit March 2020, I forced him to start reading independently for 20 minutes a day as part of our homeschool program. This was the first time that I ever saw him read a chapter book by himself. After school ended in June, he stopped reading over the summer. When 3rd grade started back up again with online school in September 2020, I required Logan to start reading for 20 minutes a day. Although he was not thrilled about this, something magical started to happen. When he really liked a book that he was reading, he would read outside of homeschool hours. I would catch him reading in the early morning and after screen time in the late afternoon and at bedtime. When asked about it, he would adamantly deny that he liked reading. As I checked out book series after book series from the public library during Logan's entire 3rd grade year, he continued to read during random times of the day and would always declare that he hated reading. Last summer, I made the goal to always have a book checked out for Logan. Between getting recommendations from other moms and the children's librarian at our library, I was able to keep a steady flow of books coming into our house during the ten weeks that Logan was out of school. Although he continued to complain, he faithfully continued to read throughout the summer months. By the time he started 4th grade this past fall, it was easy to see that Logan had become an avid reader. He also started reading several series that Lia had read and loved and had been recommending to him for months. Logan read through several Percy Jackson series and Brandon Mull series. His books doubled in size and he continuously scored at an 8th grade reading level whenever his teacher would have the class take reading assessments. Logan basically started reading during every minute of the waking day when he wasn't in school or having screen time or at an activity or playing with a friend. Logan would read all the time.
However, during all these months of 4th grade, one series had been left untouched: Harry Potter. Although Logan had long established fantasy as his favorite genre and that he loved every series that his sister had recommended, he continued to fight our recommendations to ready Harry Potter. I think that it was mainly due to the fact that he never really liked the movie series and he equated the books with the movies. And no matter how much Lia and I kept on telling him that the books are so much better than the movies, he continued to ignore us. As the months wore on, Logan just dug in his heels more and more. And then in June, something happened. He finished the latest book series that he was reading, The Candy Shop War, by Brandon Mull, and had nothing else to read. So, on Tuesday, June 7th, I saw him walking out the door to school with the first Harry Potter book in his hand. I almost fell over because I was so surprised! After making a big deal out of it, I sent Logan out the door wondering what on earth had just happened. And just like that, Logan entered the amazing and magical world that J.K. Rowling created and was totally hooked. By that night, I could barely get him to turn off his light at 10 o'clock and go to bed because he was in the middle of the first quidditch match! And it was like this for the next sixteen days as I watched my boy rip through one book after the next at a record breaking speed. By the time he finished school on June 17th, he was on book #5 and he finished the entire series on June 23rd. It was rather amazing to witness this 10-year old boy fly through this massive book series in a little over two weeks--especially since he was in school for nine of those sixteen days. After he finished, Logan became a Harry Potter fan overnight and has now rewatched all of the movies and even dug out the beautiful, resin wand that we bought for him back in 2018 when we visited "Harry Potter Land" at Universal Studios in L.A. I am so glad that Logan finally gave this remarkable, young adult book series a try and that he fell just as in love with it as I did when I read all of them in the early 2000s and like his sister did back when she was in 3rd grade. It is so wonderful to have another Harry Potter fan in the house and I am so proud of Logan for being such a voracious reader. I know that this incredible skill he has developed over the last year or two will help him for years to come as a student and for the rest of his life. Well done, Logan. I am so proud of you!
Two of my greatest possessions: my boy and my Harry Potter books.
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