Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone

The first book in the Harry Potter series, Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone (or Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone in the US) is written from the point-of-view of the 11-year-old Harry Potter. While its prime audience is children aged 8 to about 11, the story has enough depth to make it a satisfying, if short, read for even teen-aged and adult readers, and the characters show realistic development over the course of the book, and the entire series.

This book was published with different titles in the UK and in the US. In the UK, and in most other English-language editions, it was titled, Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone. Apparently the U.S. publisher felt that its younger American audience would lack sufficient background in classical mythology to know what the Philosopher's Stone was, and so re-titled the book, Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone. While many fan sites, mostly in the US, have chosen the latter title, and the film and video games have done likewise, this book uses the UK title as being closer to the author's intent. This is the only book in the series with any difference in the title.

Book Highlights

New places visited: Privet Drive, Diagon Alley, Hogwarts, Forbidden Forest
Defence Against the Dark Arts teacher: Professor Quirrell
Title refers to: the Philosopher's Stone