Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone

The first time I read a Harry Potter book it was to Isaac, my oldest, when the final book came out. There was this huge buzz over the series' final installment so I was curious and Isaac wanted to read it, so it worked out for both of us. A couple years ago Isaac, Alan, and I had a reading challenge where we all would each read the books and 'raced' to see who could finish first. Now I have Adam at that age and he's been dying to read the series so I finally granted him his wish. 

I love the series as a whole, but I've never gotten too excited about Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone. It's good; they're all good, but it's my least favorite in the series. I understand the burden of this novel: it has to set the stage for not only the rest of the series but must introduce the reader to this wizard world. And Rowling does that pretty successfully. I've just never been able to get too excited about it. (Generally speaking, I think the books get better the further into the series.) But bottom line, the books are fun--all of them--whether read alone or aloud... though they are particularly fun to read to a wide eyed child who is spellbound by the magic of it all.