Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone

Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone. When all the Harry Potter hoopla hit the media in the late 1990’s, I rushed out to buy the first book - the Sorceror’s Stone (or Philosopher’s Stone). Years ago my children and I got great pleasure from my reading J.R. Tolkien’s Ring series aloud. I hoped that I could read the J.K. Rowling Harry Potter series to my children. When the audio book came out I and millions of others bought it. Now as soon as the kids are old enough I can start the reading process.

Jim Dale, a man of many voices, performs the audio version of this book. His reading is a true performance, and it is masterful. Dale’s voice paints a great picture of each of the fascinating characters, the Dursleys, Hagrid, Harry, Dumbledore and of course Ron and Hermione. Dale was nominated for a Grammy for his performance.

So now I have to take some long driving trips with the kids so we can listen to Jim Dale tell the story of Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone. It is not a short story, there are 7 CDs, and 8 hours and 17 minutes of fun listening. I haven’t found any minimum age recommendations, but seems like seven or eight year olds should be able to enjoy this performance.