Today marks twenty years since Harry Potter was first released. It's been a magical two decades, hasn't it?

I was a teenager when I was first introduced to words like Hogwarts and muggle and Gryffindor. By the time the final book was launched, I was an adult. It never mattered to me that these books were written for kids. As I get older, my love for the wizarding world only gets stronger. I will say it loud and proud, I LOVE HARRY POTTER.

A few years ago, I was lucky enough to visit the Harry Potter studios in England. As you can imagine, it was glorious. We drank butterbeer and got our pictures taken in front of 4 Privet Drive. The Great Hall and Diagon Alley were open to be explored. I loved looking at all the costumes and the props and the gift shop, oh the gift shop!

Harry Potter. Always.

This series is so important to me because it touches on the elements that I think make all #kidlit so wonderful (yes, even for us adults).

Harry Potter reminds me there is magic in the world. Okay, so maybe expecto patronum isn't going to work in real life, but that doesn't mean there's no such thing as magic. (If you ask me, there's a little bit of magic here on #steemit).

I love a good quest: good vs. evil, and all that. Of course, not all children's literature is about good versus evil but it usually does involve some sort of quest (sometimes on a large scale, sometimes small). Whether the adventure is discovering how something is made or maybe it's learning about a mysterious new neighbour--at the end of the day, it's still a quest! And darnnit, it feels like you've accomplished something after reading through a quest.

The characters are complex and I care about what happens to them. I think so many of JK Rowling's characters are loved (in this series, and in others) because we readers can see a little bit of ourselves in each of them. Kid's books can, indeed, feature elaborate characters and relationships and problems.

I'm so excited because, now that I have kids, I get to experience these stories over again. This time I'll see the magic for the first time through their eyes.

A picture I took at Harry Potter studios in England (the Quibbler wall!)

In my introduction to steemit, I mentioned that I love everything kidlit and hope to post many stories related to the subject. They won't be all about #HarryPotter but anytime you fellow Potter-heads feel like nerding out, please feel free to drop me a note.