IntroductionThe first Harry Potter book came out in 1997, and no one at the time could imagine that over the next 10 years it would become the most read children's book and a franchise cinema worth 6.4 billion dollars. The purpose of this essay is to try to explain the reason for the popularity of the Harry Potter books. The aim is also to show the changes that the series have caused, how they have influenced the people who have read them, how they have had an impact on literacy and, in general, on British popular culture. In the first part of the essay I will briefly explain the beginning of the Harry Potter phenomenon and its growing popularity in countries around the world. In the second part I will deal with the character of Harry, explaining why he has such a fascination for readers and why people identify with him. In part three I will explain the impact the Harry Potter books have on society, how they influence young adults and children. The fourth part will deal with the controversies surrounding Harry Potter, the opinions and thoughts of religious people who see Harry Potter as a book that should be banned. In the fifth part, I will mention the difference that the phenomenon has caused in the book industry and the British film industry. The beginning of the phenomenonThe Harry Potter phenomenon had its humble beginning in the 1990s, when the first books, written by J.K. Rowling, is out in stores. The main protagonist, a scrawny child magician who wore round glasses, had an immediate appeal to readers, but no one at the time knew that the little boy would become the literary icon of the last decade. The popularity of the book led to its translation into various languages... half of the paper... Phenomenon. http://ezinearticles.com/?A-Brief-Introduction-Into-The-Harry-Potter-Phenomenon&id=6193737-Gibbs, Nancy. Person of the Year 2007. http://www.time.com/time/specials/2007/personoftheyear/article/0,28804,1690753_1695388_1695436,00.html- Oro, Tanya. Harry Potter and the end of a pop culture phenomenon. http://www.guardian.co.uk/film/2011/jul/12/harry-potter-deathly-hallows-premiere- Heilman, Elizabeth. Critical Perspectives on Harry Potter, 2002, e-book: http://books.google.ba/books?id=-jtl-ZDxEFkC&printsec=frontcover#v=onepage&q&f=false-Hoyle, Ben. Harry Potter, the wizard who changed an industry. http://www.theaustralian.com.au/news/world/harry-potter-the-boy-wizard-who-changed-an-industry/story-e6frg6so-1226088694501- Woodrum, Emily. The Harry Potter controversy. http://www.ecu.edu/cs-lib/reference/instruction/harrypotter.cfm