One of the great leaps in life is the moment when reading suddenly stops being a chore and becomes a way to have a new world blossom in your mind. Too many children in our (US at any rate) educational system never make that transition. From everything I've read about them, Rowling's Harry Potter books are bringing more children to that point, so that they finish the book(s) and say "That was great, what else can I read." For that alone, her books should be prized above rubies.

As to Blackcatter's criticism of the lack of ethnic diversity -- that may be more a function of Hollywood than Rowling. The books make it very clear that Hogwarts includes students of many races and ethnicities --- and regards the variety as something so normal as not to need comment or explanation. In my book this puts it far ahead of much of the great children's literature of the past, which either has no non-white characters (Heidi, Black Beauty, Wrinkle in Time.....) or deals with race in a manner that is troubling today (Tom Sawyer & Huck Finn, Uncle Tom's Cabin, Five Little Peppers & How They Grew....). This is not to say that these older books are not without merit, they are classics for a reason, but it's nice to have a popular series of children's books that doesn't ignore diversity, or present in on a silver platter for additional PC brownie points.