1 Shakespeare: Hi Ophelia.
1 Ophelia: Hi Will. Say, maybe you can help me. I'm looking for a book for my cousin's birthday. He's turning 10.
2 Shakespeare: J.K. Rowling has a new one out.
2 Ophelia: Who?
3 Shakespeare: She writes this series about a boy wizard who goes to a school for young witches and wizards. It's good stuff.
4 Shakespeare: And I guarantee nobody else will get the same book as a gift, since it's pretty obscure.

Finding a good book for a kid is a tricky experience. There are the classics of course, but it's also nice to discover new books that are exciting and enjoyable for the kids of today. Only as an adult you have little exposure to new children's literature and the array of options is bewildering.

So it pays to ask around.

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2022-09-18 Rerun commentary: I only discovered Harry Potter after I think the third book, Prisoner of Azkaban, had been published. Before that it was considerably more obscure, and no doubt many people around my age would never even have heard of Harry Potter at all before that time. I may even have been one of the relatively early ones onto the bandwagon.