The Harry Potter franchise is a worldwide phenomenon and today marks the 20Th Anniversary of the first book's release. Written by author J.K. Rowling, the series tells the story of wizard Harry Potter who must defeat the evil wizard Voldemort who killed his parents. The books follow Harry's life as he grows up, attends Hogwarts and eventually comes face to face with the murderer of his family. The series is full of friendship, hope, adventure, and magic.
The series is still relevant to children and adults today
According to The Guardian, a survey was completed in 2005 surrounding literacy and credited J.K Rowling's books for boosting literacy.
The books grew in popularity over the years and have steadily gained international fans from everywhere in the world. The books have been translated into over 68 languages and sold over 400 million copies. The series continues to sell today.
Rowling continues to write about the wizarding world and reveal it's secrets to fans. As the books were released in 1997, parents and children who read the series have now grown up with a deep love for Harry Potter and Hogwarts. As of today, Harry Potter fans are introducing their children to the series and the fandom continues to grow. Rowling has released a play called "Harry Potter And The Cursed Child" and has seen the creation of the hit movie "Fantastic Beast's and Where to Find Them".
The wizarding world continues to be brought to the big screen
The Harry Potter book series was made into movie adaptations under the supervision of J.K Rowling. The first movie, with the same title of the book, "Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone" was released in 2001. The final movie installment following the story of Harry Potter, Hermione Granger, and Ronald Weasley was released in 2011 making the movies span a lifetime of 10 years.
Rowling has gifted the world with the prequel movie "Fantastic Beast's and Where to Find Them". The prequel movie follows the adventures of Newt Scamander in the years 1926 onward. "Fantastic Beast's" was released last year in 2016. Four more movies in the prequel franchise have already been ordered and will continue to be made over the coming years.
The first sequel to "Fantastic Beast's" is due to arrive in theaters come 2018.
A difficult start
Rowling has not been shy about revealing the struggles in getting the series published. The author experienced several rejections, even when she took on the pen name Robert Galbraith. Eventually, Rowling managed to get published and it has been history in the making ever since.
