"a thoughtful introduction to the phenomenon that began in 1997 with the publication of Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone" --Children's Literature Association Quarterly, Winter 02-03

"Overall, this useful text serves its purpose by providing a launching point for parents and high school teachers. It may even serve some use as supplementary reading for Children's or Young Adult literature courses focused on the Potter books."- Brent Stypczynski, International Association for the Fantastic in the Arts, Summer 2006, 17.2

International Association for the Fantastic Arts

"Without pretension, she reminds us of how useful it is to stand back from the razzmatazz of book reading and selling and library works and the rest, to take stock of what makes Harry Potter books tick... Eccleshare opens up a number of critical ideas that are always worth asking... She combines "conventionality with traditionalism" and so makes a suitable case for treatment by Olympian critics keen to detect sources, devise theories and distrust commercialism. I hope Eccleshare rewrites the book now that the Harry Potter series is complete." Stuart Hannabuss, LR 57,8

'Eccleshare addresses pertinent race and gender issues, examines Rowling's handling of education and the family, and touches on some broad social implications of current widespread enthusiasm for Harry Potter.'

Modern Literature