American editor underestimates the intelligence of Harry Potter readers

When I got my first Harry Potter book (the Scholastic edition) I noticed that it used American spellings (things like "color" instead of "colour"). And the name of the book didn't match the movie (Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone).

Later at another bookstore I found the Canadian edition (from Raincoast books), and it had much prettier cover art so I bought the rest of my Potter books from there. And I was so unhappy about my American book that I ended up buying Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone from Raincoast too.

It's not just the spelling that's Americanized in the Scholastic edition. A quaffle is compared to a soccer ball (not a football), a Beater's bat is like "a short baseball bat" (not a rounder's bat, whatever that is), and Hermione has a crying jag in "the "bathroom" (not the toilets). All that in about 4 pages.

Is this interference called for? There's no question for me personally - half the charm of the Potter stories is their Britishness (I'm pretty nerdy about my love of things English) and I can't help but feel that the American books are butchered. But they're more approachable for American kids. Does this dumb them down too much?

EDIT: I've changed the title to reflect what I see as the real issue. But this discussion has brought home the fact that many Americans see everything un-American as, at best, not the sort of thing impressionable kids should be exposed to.

i personally wish that all was released was the ORIGINAL british version. you don't get more intelligent when things are constantly brought down to your level, you have to be challanged. it wouldn't be such a horrible thing if kids were made to think and ask questions and actually LEARN about another culture!! but again, americans for the most part are xenophobic.

se1289: I didn't mean that I thought Americans were dumb, just that I don't think the editors give them enough credit for their intelligence. I think American readers - even young ones - don't need to be spoonfed quite so much.

Yea but read the comments on this.

Like the one above yours...

"americans are just so" blah blah blah.. because you know every american and you've lived here for more then a few months at a time..right?

POINT BLANK..if I was 9 and read that a girl was in the "toilets"..then I would think she is IN the toilet. Makes since..right? Well maybe not for "whatever nationality you are" *rolls eyes*.

Ack.  Why, why does anyone consider these wording differences brought down at all.  FFS!  I could see if you're debating the changes in a more lateral way, but what on earth does any of it have to do with actual intelligence or ability to understand!  I don't find the changed terms to be an insult of any sort, but perhaps that's because a single book series, no matter how much I may love it, doesn't define what I & others believe about my own mind.


And "Americans", might I remind you are people of the entire World! I don't know about any of you, but there isn't an ounce of Native American in my blood.  I most certainly am American & glad to be so but my family didn't just pop up out of the earth here.  They came here just as most others living here did.  I love how someone is looked at once they what?  take the oath to live here.  Live here a certain amount of years?  were born here?  Where do you draw the line?  When exactly do the stupid, ignorant, xenophobic traits set in?  In this entire world, some people grow up small minded twits acting like they grew up in shoe boxes and some don't.  Last I checked geography was another subject.  That's really all there is to it.

^^exactly. :)

Here is an interesting link.  It definitely goes both ways.

The link discusses the differences in language between UK and US versions of The Great Gatsby. So here is a book that was written in American English and was changed for publication in the UK.

Just a thought. Its a pretty widely practiced thing I believe.

Well its not like we are the only country that localizes literature...other countrys recieving american books with american slang somtimes alter those books to be for more familiar with thier readers...I don't think we've dumbed down anything....Everyone constantly talks about how "stupid" americans are...even our own people have,  because we have "lower" test scores then other countrys....but look at everything that comes out of america all the inventions all the innovations....I think we are a smart country...I mean sure we could stuff our childrens head until the reach the test scores we want but then that'd leave no room for self expression...So we need to  quit saying we;re stupid...and getting comfortable in the idea...as for "americans for the most part are xenophobic"...Thats a just a small percentage of amercans ...americans with those necks soooo red.

I'm saddened by the fact that this translation has occured. I read Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone first when I was in grade 6... and I had no problem figuring out that the toilets were where ppl go to the toilet. Didn't have to question my parents on that one. And tell me American children know that in Europe and most of the rest of the world calls soccer "football". Hey, even if they need to ask their parents a word or two, is it so awful to have to teach your children something about another culture? or even look it up on wikipedia if they don't know?

I don't think American children would have that much of a problem with it. Maybe ppl need to give American children more credit? Canadian children were obviously thought intelligent enough to figure it out, and its not like we're very exposed to British english either.

I imagine the books would lose a lot of their charm without the britishness.

Canadian's have more of a European culture to them though..dont they?

I've always been in the habit of buying the British version of books in the Harry Potter series.

Growing up, I had an interest in different words, dialects, what have you... I have a wonderful collection of first edition books by Kipling.

If I don't know what a word means, I simply look it up in the dictionary. Done it all my life. Works every time.

To me, Harry Potter is British, and it should have a British flavo[u]r. Guess I am just a purist.

Ah, I also wanted to first reiterate that "Americans" are MANY things and add that even within the United States the people vary incredibly.  So from now on, anyone who wants to state that Americans are this or that, ought to specify exactly which ones they're speaking of.  Of course, then it wouldn't be so easy to put entire societies down.  A Society I might add that is broken up into many little States, which are in some cases larger than the entire country these books came from.

heather84clear, that "small percentage" is most of this country!!

kindoflikesarah most of the country??!!! Who have you met, where do you live, you must live a very sheltered life.

And, Amen, sel1289. I totally agree with your post. This book series is read by 3rd and 4th graders! How many kids do you have kindoflikesarah? Maybe if the series was released for adults, it shouldn't have been "Americanized" but when it is a CHILDREN'S series, it is released for CHILDREN! When my 3rd or 4th grader is immersed in a book, I don't mind the occasional question, but you want them to be able to enjoy the book on their own - not with you holding their hand through it.

jillmugleston, you're obviously offended by my OPINIONS, and decided that you needed to somehow try and attack me for them. that's pretty childish. to answer some of your questions though, i am from massachusetts but have lived all over this country. for the better part of the last 6 years i have lived in the south (louisiana for the longest stretch, texas now), where i have had the unfortunate "privilege" (if i can call it that) to be confronted on a daily basis by people because they don't like the way that i look. i think that most americans are the ones that are SHELTERED, case in point, our literature is changed to fit our needs so we won't have to explain to our kids that other cultures, other countries, and other groups use another dialect of english than we do.

if you care to discuss this, and not attack me, i'm more than happy to have a conversation.

heh. i suppose the children in spain should learn british english so they can enjoy harry potter too? and in france, the french children should learn british english so they can enjoy harry? and in japan, the children should learn british english to experience the magic of harry potter?

seriously, people, this is ridiculous. the brits should be proud that us "bloody yanks" care enough about one of their national treasures to make it so that even "dumb americans" can understand and enjoy it!!!

i'm actually not a dumb american, though a know quite a few. but i also know some really intelligent americans. you'd be remiss to call all americans one thing, because as far as i've figured out after living in 3 different states and traveling through 32 of them, americans come in different shapes sizes and styles.

and you know what? i read the american version and liked it! but i also have done my own research to find out what all they changed, simply becuase i think it's important! like the Black family name, whenever translated into any language still shares the last initial with RAB -- so in places where Black starts with a Z, the initials are translated to RAZ! and i've read where complete sentences were added (BY JK ROWLING, NONETHELESS) to the american version! think that doesn't give us extra clues to what will happen in book 7???

how rude.

I think heather raises a good point in that it was the author that confirmed changes. Publishers and authors are out to make money and to make their books as marketable as possible. This often includes making regional differences to their books.

Just about every international business practices this, from books to cola companies.

*wonders if she should feel bad for having to read Siddhartha in English*

hgielrehtaeh, i'm not seeing your connection between other countries that acutally speak other languages and americans? we speak the same language as the british!!

oh no we don't, kindoflikesarah, oh no we don't.

and according to the people who are advocates of keeping all works in their native tongues on this thread, you should feel very, very bad buckeye! very bad indeed!!!! (but i don't care! as long as you read it!!!)

saying that americans and brits speak the same language is like saying that someone from spain who speaks castilian spanish speaks the same language as a mexican!

wrong-o!

ok, but you do admit that we BASICALLY speak the same language, right? i don't have to learn a whole new language to read a novel in british english.