Now, I know a lot of you here read the Harry Potter books, because this is where I first heard of them. I've read all three now and I think they're great. But I have a question.

Some time ago now, there was a discussion in the chatroom about some idiot school which banned the books. One reason was a perceived lack of politically correct ethnic diversity at Harry Potter's school. OK, this is insane for numerous reasons, not the least of which is the fact that there *are* characters of various non-white origins. (What the heck did they think Parvati Patel was? If that isn't an Indian name, what is?)

But this isn't what my question is about. In the course of our discussion, somebody said a particular character (Dean Thomas) was black, naming a scene in the first book where it said so. I looked for this, and it wasn't in the scene in my book. I also found out that the first book "The Philosopher's Stone", was published in the USA as "The Sorcerer's Stone."

What I want to know is, do they CHANGE the text of books, or add things, to make the story more "acceptable" in different countries? I hope not, but if so, what do you all think about that? Am I the only one who thinks it would be completely wrong?

The title change, too, struck me as wrong. A philosopher's stone is a well-known historical and literary item from medieval alchemy -- as it was described in the book. A "sorcerer's stone" means nothing, although it sounds nicely wizardy. Changing the title removed the meaning completely. Why dumb it down? Did they think American kids can't cope with words of more than three syllables or something, while British kids can?

I heard there were some other changes from the British to the American version. But it's *set* in Britain! That's where it's *from*! I strongly disagree with editing out regional or local flavour for the benefit of readers in other parts of the world. If kids don't understand something in a book, they'll ask, or go and find out. They'll learn. That's half the point of great children's books like Harry Potter, surely?

Brunnen-"can't wait for number 4, and proud to say to the shop assistant I'm buying it for myself and not a kid's present"G