By the time I was eleven, my summers were filled with heroism, romance and faraway, exotic places. I rode shotgun as famous defense attorneys, brilliant detectives, and even the occasional super spy made right the wrongs of this world. Sometimes, I did all of it without ever leaving my bed. My genie was the pages of the well-written novel - a magic that is now in a death struggle with other sorcery of a very seductive kind.

Cable TV, video game consoles, and the Internet are the new magic, casting a spell on our children that can blind their eyes to print, dull their powers of imagination, and imprison them in a sleep of ignorance worse than the sleep of the spindle's prick.  But to this night terror has been added the sweet promise of books so enchanting and so compelling, that the possibility of the old magic re-emerging can be glimpsed. The Harry Potter books stand at the apex of that trend.

A few years ago, my son and I read the first Harry Potter book together. That kindled a passion for reading that had previously not existed in him. It lasted only for a time, and eventually the video game console won out. But that battle was probably lost because my son was already a teenager at the time, and perhaps I didn't push as hard as I might have. There is no reason why others could not have a better result.

As this summer rolls around, decide to be on the side of the old magic, the good magic, the book magic. Take your children to the bookstore - online or off. Read a book or two with them. Turn off the TV and play board games. Plant firmly in your children's hands and minds wands that will be constant sources of revelation, enlightenment, and yes, magic. Give them the gift of "reading for pleasure."