HOW HARRY CAST HIS SPELL by John Granger

A book-by-book analysis of the Christian symbols and themes in the Harry Potter series by J. K. Rowling. This is an updated version of the book Finding God in Harry Potter. Around the time the fourth book was coming out, my Sunday School students were reading Harry and my husband decided to check them out to see what the kids were reading. We had heard the criticism from some pockets of Christianity about the books being evil and encouraging kids to pursue the occult. My husband found the stories delightful and not evil, but I was not convinced until a friend suggested I read Finding God. I found the author's logic about the magical elements from the series not being occult-ish reasonable and I gave the series a try for myself. And I fell in love.

I teach at a Christian school and Harry is not allowed in some classrooms and for simplicity we have chosen not to shelve it in the library. But I did buy a copy of this book for my new "Teacher Resource" section for the staff in my building. I decided to read it again for a refresher and found it just as reasonable and convincing as I did the first time I read it. I hope some of the teachers who have questions or concerns about the series will give this book a try. It is one large spoiler, so I wouldn't recommend it to someone who actually wants to enjoy the series, but it would be great for a parent or pastor or teacher who had questions or concerns about the series or for folks who have already read the books and wants a more in-depth look at the elements of alchemy, the symbols of Christ (phoenix, griffin, etc.) and the themes of love and sacrifice.

4 out of 5 stars