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The Vatican weighs in
The English "public" schools Hogwarts resembles are Protestant institutions; but at Hogwarts, chapel is conspicuously absent. A failure to mention Christianity, combined with the presence of wizardry, have led some to wonder whether Rowling is substituting paganism for Christianity. The books have even been accused of promoting witchcraft.[http://www.chick.com/catalog/videos/potter.asp] [http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/entertainment/arts/1735623.stm] [http://www.chick.com/catalog/videos/0127.asp] [http://www.cesnur.org/recens/potter_06.htm] Some evangelical Christians have attempted to ban the books in public schools[http://www.gwinnettdailypost.com/index.php?s=&url_channel_id=32&url_subchannel_id=&url_article_id=14074&change_well_id=2].
The English "public" schools Hogwarts resembles are Protestant institutions; but at Hogwarts, chapel is conspicuously absent. A failure to mention Christianity, combined with the presence of wizardry, have led some to wonder whether Rowling is substituting paganism for Christianity. The books have even been accused of promoting witchcraft.[http://www.chick.com/catalog/videos/potter.asp] [http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/entertainment/arts/1735623.stm] [http://www.chick.com/catalog/videos/0127.asp] [http://www.cesnur.org/recens/potter_06.htm] Some evangelical Christians have attempted to ban the books in public schools[http://www.gwinnettdailypost.com/index.php?s=&url_channel_id=32&url_subchannel_id=&url_article_id=14074&change_well_id=2].
In 2003, a [[Vatican]] representative said the books "aren't serving as the banner for an anti-Christian theology.... I don't think there's anyone in this room who grew up without fairies, magic, and angels in their imaginary world."<ref>Sink, Mindy (2003), "The Split Verdict on Harry Potter,"
''The New York Times,'' March 8, 2003, p. B6; representative quoted is Rev. Don Peter Fleetwood, who "helped draft a Vatican document on New Age phenomena."</ref>
Harry Potter has inspired hundreds of thousands of children across the globe to learn to love to read. The Harry Potter novels, particularly the later ones, are long. The 870 pages of "Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix," even though printed in large type, contain 255,000 words—about twice as long as ''A Tale of Two Cities.'' The "Lexile" measure of reading level puts the series between 880L and 950L,<ref>For comparison: Charlotte's Web 680L, Alice's Adventures in Wonderland 890L, Moby Dick 1200L</ref> comparable to sixth-grade texts<ref>[http://www.lexile.com/DesktopDefault.aspx?view=fa&tabindex=4&tabid=22 The Lexile framework for reading].</ref>
Harry Potter has inspired hundreds of thousands of children across the globe to learn to love to read. The Harry Potter novels, particularly the later ones, are long. The 870 pages of "Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix," even though printed in large type, contain 255,000 words—about twice as long as ''A Tale of Two Cities.'' The "Lexile" measure of reading level puts the series between 880L and 950L,<ref>For comparison: Charlotte's Web 680L, Alice's Adventures in Wonderland 890L, Moby Dick 1200L</ref> comparable to sixth-grade texts<ref>[http://www.lexile.com/DesktopDefault.aspx?view=fa&tabindex=4&tabid=22 The Lexile framework for reading].</ref>