In a very special collection of letters by kids from all over world, fans of the phenomenally popular Harry Potter share with the wizard-hero their secrets, hopes, concerns, and dreams. For these young readers the Sorcerer’s Stone, the Chalnber of Secrets, the Prisoner of Azkaban, and the Goblet of Fire have become passwords to magic and extraordinary adventure. But in Harry Potter himself, as the letters and interviews in this charmer of a book show, kids have discovered the still more marvelous sorcery that lies in friendship.

Nothing has rocked the children’s book world like Harry Potter.Harry Potter is a phenomena that has inspired in ways that nobody could have imagined. Harry Potter has created an entire world of adventure for children (and more than a few adults, too!) Harry Potter is a world within a world: It is a place where wizardry and magic permeate things, but it is also part of our world--the place of Muggles.

While compiling Kids" Letters to Harry Potter from around the World, I found that not only was there tremendous interest in J. K.Rowling’s stories, but that Harry Potter has inspired children to read more than ever before. I had the wonderful opportunity to talk with many children and interview them for Kids" Letters to Harry Potter from around the World, and almost universally, I was told that reading the Harry Potter books has whetted the appetites of these young readers. What Harry Potter has done is to help create a new generation of readers who will treasure reading for the rest of their lives. And who knows, perhaps among the children whose letters are in this book is the next J. K. Rowling!

Children from around the world wrote letters. In Kids" Letters to Harry Potter from around tbe World are young Potter fans from the United States, England, the Philippines, South Africa, Singapore,Australia, Estonia, Netherlands--from every continent.

I think that as you read these letters you will discover the force of children’s curiosity and imagination. Among my own favorite letters are those suggesting new spells and potions--spells and potions I don’t want my grandchildren to try around their houses.

But you didn’t buy this book to read what I have to say, so I’m going to cut myself short. Without any further ado, here are Kids" Letters to Harry Potter from around the World.

Bill Adler

New York City

August 2001