For ages, my youngest brother, the talented sculptor Steven Larson, has urged me to read the wildly popular Harry Potter novels by J.K. Rowling. He went so far as to persuade his wife-to-be (the talented painter, Alexandra Walker) that she should let me borrow her complete set of the (so far!) published, Harry Potter novels. Thanks to their encouragement and help, this year, I've actually started reading them... and so has my wife, Cherita.

I've enjoyed the process of reading the Harry Potter novels far more than I had originally expected that I would... although, now that I think about it, I realize that I had only a vague expectation that I might enjoy them.

Without giving anything away, I've deeply enjoyed reading them in major part because they are children's stories.

This isn't only because I'm father to and full-time caregiver for my three year old daughter. (She is involved, though. In my case at least, the experience of being a parent has drawn my attention to those things that interest children.) That can't be the whole explanation, though, because my daughter isn't yet at the age or level of development at which she would be reading or even fully understanding these books. Part of my motivation to read them, though, does involve my expectation that when she is able, she may well fall in love with them.

I've also enjoyed such reading because frankly, in my busy new life,¹ I've sometimes neglected to "play" enough... by which I more specifically mean that I've not always devoted enough time to enjoying works of art.²

Early this morning, I finished reading the third book in the Harry Potter series. My wife has read the first two, and she will start reading the third one tomorrow. I started reading the fourth one today, and I'm already enjoying it!

So thank you, Steve and Alex!

Notes

¹I'm now caring not only for my daughter but also for my elderly father. You can read more about these developments here.

²For more information about what I mean by "play" in this context, feel free to read my comments, "My Blog Categories: Growth, Love, Play and Work... and What's New," here.