Harry Potter

For all those who think that this is the kind of book that corrupts children and raises anti-Christian themes... Can't a book just BE a book? If you've raised your children the way you believe is correct, one book (or a series of books) is not going to undo all that hard work.

I didn't feel tempted to use drugs because Dwight Gooden and Darryl Strawberry did. I didn't aspire to become a married man swinging an axe because I read The Shining. Hearing about the sexual escapades of the Who didn't encourage me to become a promiscious male slut... well, OK, it was tempting, but I didn't have the talent to smash a guitar or blow up a drum set. My parents didn't say anything when I brought home The Omen or Rosemary's Baby, trusting that they raised me well enough that I wasn't becoming the Antichrist or Satan's minion.

A story about a kid wizard, however you twist it, cannot influence your children down the wrong path unless the seeds of that path are already planted. If you're that concerned, read it with your child. Family time together is more influential on children than any book, TV/movie actor, or athlete.