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Are your kids and teens Harry Potter fans? If so and you are anxious for them to expand their vocabulary, I have just the book for them. The Pottersaurus: 1,500 Words Harry Potter Readers Need to Know is a fascinating compendium of some of the more complex words in the Harry Potter books I-VI. These are real words, not the words invented by author J.K. Rowling. They include a number of words found on the ACT/SAT tests as well as some British terms that are unfamiliar to Americans.

The words are presented in an entertaining way, one sure to intrigue Harry Potter fans of all ages.

The Format of The Pottersaurus Entries

The books begins with a two-page Introduction and User's Guide and ends with an appendix listing all 1,500 of the words by the Harry Potter book and chapter in which they appear. The 1,500 entries are listed in alphabetical order and all follow the same format. It includes a simple definition of the word and a paraphrase of how the word appears in context in one of the Harry Potter books. Here's an example of a listing from The Pottersaurus:

• Hoisted - Lifted up. After their victory over Slytherin, the Gryffindor Quidditch team was hoisted onto the shoulders of the crowd.

Most listings also include a notation of the book and chapter in which the word appears.

The Author of The Pottersaurus

The author of The Pottersaurus: 1,500 Words Harry Potter Readers Need to Know is Eric D. Randall, an editor and journalist. His work has been published in a variety of magazines and newspapers, including Time and Newsweek magazines, The Washington Post and USA Today.

According to Randall, the book was his daughter Julia's idea.
When Julia was seven, Randall began reading the Harry Potter books to her. Many of the words in the books were new to Julia, and she needed to have them defined for her. At her suggestion, Randall created The Pottersaurus to help other Harry Potter fans understand more of the words used in the series.

The Pottersaurus: My Recommendation

In his introduction, Randall sums up the appeal of the book for Harry Potter fans: "With The Pottersaurus, you will know what Rowling meant when she wrote that Aunt Marge became apoplectic, Percy spoke sanctimoniously or Hermione looked pensive." While many of the brief definitions in The Pottersaurus are simplistic, they do, when combined with a sentence about their use in context, provide the reader with a basic understanding of the meaning, or at least one of the meanings, of each of the words featured. I recommend The Pottersaurus: 1,500 Words Harry Potter Readers Need to Know for Harry Potter fans of all ages: kids, teens, and adults.