Product Description

Harry Potter 1 GOLD WINNER of the 1997 Nestle Smarties Book Prize (9-11yrs) Harry Potter 2 GOLD WINNER of the 1997 Nestle Smarties Book Prize (9-11yrs) Harry Potter 1 WINNER of the British Book Awards' Children's Book of the Year 1997 Harry Potter 2 WINNER of the British Book Awards' Children's Book of the Year 1998 Harry Potter 1 WINNER of the Children's Book Award 1998 (age range section & overall) Harry Potter 1 Shortlisted for the Guardian Children's Fiction Award 1997 Harry Potter 1 Winner of the Sheffield Children's Book Award 1997 Harry Potter 1 Winner of the Young Telegraph Book Award Harry Potter 1 Commended for the Carnegie Children's Fiction Award 1997 Harry Potter 1 Winner of the Birmingham Cable Book Award FILM RIGHTS for Harry Potter 1 and 2 sold to Warner Brothers for 7 figure sum Harry Potter 2 Shortlisted for the Whitbread Book Award When Harry and his best friends go back for their third year at Hogwarts, the atmosphere is tense. There's an escaped mass-murderer on the loose and the sinister prison guards of Azkaban have been called in to guard the school.Lessons, however, must go on and there are lots of new subjects in third year - Care of Magical Creatures and Divination among others - to take Harry's mind off things!

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #1847 in Books
• Published on: 2000-04-01
• Original language: English
• Binding: Paperback
• 320 pages

From Amazon.co.uk
The worry, when faced with the follow-up to books as good as Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone and Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets (both winners of the Nestlé Smarties Prize Gold Award), is that it won't be as good. With J.K. Rowling's Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban any concerns are banished from page one. This, the third in the series, continues where the previous two left off and is a fantastic adventure of mystery, magic and mayhem combined with liberal doses of humour and plenty of suspense.

Forced to do his homework in the dead of night and forbidden to refer to his magic skills or his life at Hogwarts school, Harry Potter is forced to endure the summer holidays with the dreaded Dursleys. The arrival of Aunt Marge is the final straw and, in a fit of anger, Harry breaks all the rules and casts a spell on her, causing her to blow up like a balloon. Running away from his dreaded relatives, Harry expects to be expelled from Hogwarts for his blatant flaunting of the rule not to use magic outside term time. However, the arrival of the mysterious Knight Bus and a meeting with Cornelius Fudge, the Minister of Magic, result in Harry enjoying the rest of the holidays in the wonderful surroundings of the Leaky Cauldron.

The escape of Sirius Black--one time friend of Harry's parents, implicated in their murder and follower of "You- Know-Who"--from Azkaban, has serious implications for Harry for it would appear that Black is bent on revenge against Harry for thwarting "You-Know-Who". Back at Hogwarts, Harry's movements are restricted by the presence of the Dementors--guards from Azkaban on the look out for Black--however, this doesn't stop him throwing himself into the new Quidditch season and going about his normal business--or at least attempting to. Despite warnings Harry is determined to get to the bottom of the mystery surrounding Sirius Black--how could this one-time close friend of his parents become the cause of their deaths?

And why does the presence of the Dementors have such a devastating effect on him, causing him to hear the last moments of his mother's life?

With another four Harry Potter novels planned, Jo Rowling is creating a series of books which will become classics to rival C.S. Lewis'Chronicles of Narnia--books written for children but loved by adults too. (Ages 9 and up) --Philippa Reece

Amazon.co.uk Review
The worry, when faced with the follow-up to books as good as Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone and Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets (both winners of the Nestlé Smarties Prize Gold Award), is that it won't be as good. With J.K. Rowling's Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban any concerns are banished from page one. This, the third in the series, continues where the previous two left off and is a fantastic adventure of mystery, magic and mayhem combined with liberal doses of humour and plenty of suspense.

Forced to do his homework in the dead of night and forbidden to refer to his magic skills or his life at Hogwarts school, Harry Potter is forced to endure the summer holidays with the dreaded Dursleys. The arrival of Aunt Marge is the final straw and, in a fit of anger, Harry breaks all the rules and casts a spell on her, causing her to blow up like a balloon. Running away from his dreaded relatives, Harry expects to be expelled from Hogwarts for his blatant flaunting of the rule not to use magic outside term time. However, the arrival of the mysterious Knight Bus and a meeting with Cornelius Fudge, the Minister of Magic, result in Harry enjoying the rest of the holidays in the wonderful surroundings of the Leaky Cauldron.

The escape of Sirius Black--one time friend of Harry's parents, implicated in their murder and follower of "You- Know-Who"--from Azkaban, has serious implications for Harry for it would appear that Black is bent on revenge against Harry for thwarting "You-Know-Who". Back at Hogwarts, Harry's movements are restricted by the presence of the Dementors--guards from Azkaban on the look out for Black--however, this doesn't stop him throwing himself into the new Quidditch season and going about his normal business--or at least attempting to. Despite warnings Harry is determined to get to the bottom of the mystery surrounding Sirius Black--how could this one-time close friend of his parents become the cause of their deaths?

And why does the presence of the Dementors have such a devastating effect on him, causing him to hear the last moments of his mother's life?

With another four Harry Potter novels planned, Jo Rowling is creating a series of books which will become classics to rival C.S. Lewis'Chronicles of Narnia--books written for children but loved by adults too. (Ages 9 and up) --Philippa Reece

Review
The adventures of Harry Potter in his third year at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry are guaranteed to intrigue and entertain adults and children alike, a glorious blend of school caper (a trainee wizard's spells can misfire to bizarre effect) and Narnia-like battle between the forces of good and evil. This time a prisoner on the run appears to be after Harry - but is everyone what they seem? Editor's note: According to our 10-year-old reviewer, Isabel O'Toole: Harry Potter is a 13-year-old Wizard and lives at number 4 Pivet Drive with his Uncle Vernon, Aunt Petunia and his huge cousin Dudley. They all treat him as if he was a bit of filth and the only real family he has are his best friends at Hogwarts. All the fuss starts when Aunt Marge (Uncle Vernon's sister) comes to 'visit' the family. She hates Harry and will do anything to upset him, but when she says something wrong she learns to suffer the consequences. So Harry goes on the run and his adventure begins. Harry's third year at Hogwarts is a very exciting year and Harry finds out that a convicted murderer is after him. Your imagination goes wild with this book and it can run away with you, your mind will get dizzy from all the riddles and puzzles and your hands will get tired for you won't be able to put the book down. Your eyes will ache and your legs will shake and I think this book deserves ten out of ten!' (Kirkus UK)

Customer Reviews

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I really liked this book and highly recommend it. I liked the bit when harry and hermione went back in time.

THE BEST OF THE SERIES
As with the film, the best of the series. An engaging tale from beginning to end.

Rowling exceeds expectations again.
The third installment of the Harry Potter series sees magic, mystery and adventure return to Hogwarts and the lives of the interesting characters considered in this novel. Gently, Rowling develops the plot to a level more complex and appropriate for readers of all ages. This is a book to read again and again.