Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban

Name: Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban
Author: J. K. Rowling
ISBN: 9788417016128

by J. K. Rowling

Ages 9–12 Reading age 10 Novel Set in school adventurousspooky

A murderer has escaped from the wizard prison and is said to be hunting Harry, and the guards sent to protect the school are worse than he is.

A story about children and witches and wizards, adventurous and spooky in tone. We would put it with children of 9–12, and at a reading age of about 10 for reading alone.

Worth knowing before you buy

Frightening scenes

None of this makes it a bad book — often the opposite. It is here so you can decide whether it is right for your child now or in a year or two.

Part of a series

This is book 3 of the Harry Potter series, so there is more to read if it goes down well — which is worth a great deal with a reluctant reader.

Our take on this book

A murderer named Sirius Black has broken out of the wizard prison of Azkaban and is said to be hunting Harry, so the school is ringed with Dementors — soul-sucking guards who turn out to be worse than the man they are meant to catch. This third book is where the series grows up: the plot is a proper time-twisting mystery, the truth about Harry's parents deepens, and the Dementors give the story its darkest, most frightening presence yet, feeding on despair itself. It is longer and more complex than the first two, and the frightening scenes have real emotional weight, so it suits a nine- to twelve-year-old ready to move on from the lighter early books. Many readers name it the best of the seven, and it is the point at which children who were merely enjoying the series tend to become genuinely gripped by it.