ILLUSTRATION BY JESSE LEFKOWITZ
Stephen King discusses how ”the boy who lived” transformed reading in the modern age. King briefly touches upon the history of popular literature for children and how J.K. Rowling has forever changed the reading experience for both children and adults.
I loved King’s nod to un-literary but uber-popular series authors like R.L. Stine and Dav Pilkey. The fact is, many kids who got hooked on reading with series like Goosebumps later on picked up Sorcerer’s Stone and continued to grow up with Harry. The hope is that these same kids will continue to find characters and stories that inspire them- like Rick Riordan’s Percy Jackson or Philip Pullman’s Lyra.
