Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone by J.K Rowling

Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone by J.K Rowling is a classic novel read by both young and old that never fails to disappoint. In short the story is about a boy called Harry Potter who becomes a wizard, goes to wizard school, meets his two best friends and ultimately defeats his arch enemy Voldemort.

Each chapter in this book has a main action or conflict which is focuses on keeping the book exciting and enjoyable throughout. The reader does not need to wait long before another mystery reveals itself. Over the course of the whole book each minor conflict or action builds and builds towards the major conflict (character vs character) at the end of the book in which Harry Potter confronts Voldemort (the dark lord who killed his parents). Harry Potter defeats Voldemort and the story resolves with Harry Potter being the hero and everyone else being safe and well.

The story is written in a third person narration with the author including mass amounts of details as to what the characters are thinking and feeling which allows the reader to really get to know the characters and share a close intimacy with them. The author's attention to detail for every sentence and every word is what makes Harry Potter such an enjoyable read.

An interesting feature of this book is when the author includes letters or notes within the text as the characters would see them in the story. An example of this is where Harry Potter has got his shopping list for the items he needs to buy from Diagon Alley. As a reader we actually get to see the list of items he needs to buy including the title and little side notes of information.  Using this feature exposes readers to non conventional ways of writing and reading which they would not normally encounter within a fiction novel.

This book could be read by students from year 4 and up.