By Pete Williams

It’s the time of year to take stock of one’s accomplishments. I’m proud that I completed a bunch of triathlons, accomplished some professional goals. But nothing compares to reading the entire seven-book Harry Potter series….aloud.

I have new respect for the guy who does the Harry Potter audiobooks. He apparently knocks them out in two or three days and uses dozens of different voices. This is amazing.

I know. Early in the year, I took the first Harry Potter book off the shelf and decided to read a chapter to my six-year-old. He liked it. So I read another chapter the next night, and the next night, and the next night.

When we were done with the first book, we started the second. Some nights we read two or three chapters. One night we read five. If we finished a book and it wasn’t quite bedtime, we’d start the next one. We took a few months off during the summer and missed some nights when I was away, but other than that we were consistent.

Reading aloud is like distance running. The first time you do it, it’s impossible to complete more than ten pages. It doesn’t matter how many children’s books you’ve read, it’s like going from 5K races to marathons. Your mouth gets dry, you begin to feel hoarse, and your throat begins to ache. I’ve done three-hour sports radio shows, but that’s easier. There are commercial breaks, callers, guests, and co-hosts.

But like distance running, endurance develops. When I need a break, I have Luke read a page. He’ll never need to know words like “occlumency,” “quidditch,” and “Avada Kadavra,” but they’re now part of his vocabulary.

I read all seven books as they were released, but reading aloud is a different experience, especially with a kid raising good questions. (“Why can’t they just turn things into money?”) Plus, you find yourself asking questions (“If Hagrid’s father was human and his mother a 20-foot giant, how exactly did….never mind.”)

It helps that the Harry Potter movies stay more true to the books than perhaps any other film adaptations. Driving back from a family trip to Miami last month, I climbed in the back with the boys and watched one of the movies. We’ve had the minivan for five years and I’ve never done that. The sound and picture quality was amazing. Where was this car-trip technology thirty years ago?

By the end of the month, we’ll be finished with the seventh and final book, which means we need to find new reading material. For now, I hope Luke goes back to the first book and reads to himself for a while.

My voice needs a rest.

This entry was posted on Wednesday, December 9th, 2009 at 12:15 pm and is filed under Sports Blog. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.