Scholastic recently released their list of “100 of the Greatest Books For Kids” & Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone ranked in at #6.

The rankings, released by Scholastic Parent & Child magazine, are aimed at “generating controversy and conversation,” says Nick Friedman, the magazine’s editor in chief.

In that spirit, why is J.K. Rowling’s groundbreaking debut, Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone, only No. 6, chosen to represent the entire series?

It’s “undoubtedly one of the greatest in history,” Friedman says, but “it is only 15 years old and hasn’t had time to be as firmly established.”

Beyond literary merit and popularity, he says, the list was chosen to include a variety of genres for different ages — from infants to middle schoolers — and to be “culturally representative.”

A team of literacy experts and “mom bloggers” nominated nearly 500 titles. Friedman and four other editors at the magazine made the final decisions. Source.

The EuroMillions Millionaire Raffle has commissioned a survey of Britain’s national treasures. The Independent reports that Jo Rowling is placed 7th in the list (behind Sir David Attenborough in 1st and Stephen Fry in 2nd place); she is the youngest person on the list, has been famous for the least amount of time and is the highest-ranking woman on the list.

Of course here at IHOR we’re a little biased into thinking that Jo should have been number 1, but we definitely agree that she is someone to be treasured by Britain, and glad this survey has recognised it!

The Guardian and Observer has compiled a list of the Top 100 people exercising the greatest influence over the UK’s reading habits – right now.

Harry Potter author and founder of Pottermore.com, Jo Rowling was listed as No. 2 behind only Jeff Bezos – Founder, President, CEO and Chairman of the Board of Amazon.

If anyone ever doubted that there was life in the young wizard yet, they were proved wrong with Rowling’s announcement of the arrival of Pottermore.com, the website dedicated to all things Harry, which will raise its curtains for business this October. But this isn’t just a fansite: it’s a virtual world in which dedicated Potter fans of all ages can navigate their way through Rowling’s imagination, collecting “house points” and chatting to their new friends in the process.

Babble.com recently released a very interesting list of “100 Moms Who Are Changing the World”

Jo was selected as #2 for the entrepreneurial section, only behind Martha Stuart. Also on the list are other important women we Michelle Obama, Angelina Jolie, and Salma Hayake.

Read the whole list here at Babble.com!

Thanks, Kristen!

The Guinness Book of World Records released the list for the new 2012 edition and Jo was given the prestigious name of “First Billionaire Author”. Congrads, Jo!

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The magical school she created may be fictional, but many children also believe J.K .Rowling would also be a wizard in their classrooms, a poll suggests.

A new survey reveals that the Harry Potter author is children’s most popular choice when it comes to the perfect female teacher.

And Hogwarts’ famous headmaster, Albus Dumbledore, was the most popular choice for perfect male teacher.

But parents have a different view of perfection, opting for Carol Vorderman and Stephen Fry as the ideal people to teach their offspring.

The survey, commissioned by the Times Educational Supplement (TES), asked parents and children to pick people they thought would make perfect male and female teachers from a list of celebrities and well-known figures.

Two fifths (40%) of the children questioned said JK Rowling would make the perfect female teacher. Miss Honey, the teacher from Roald Dahl’s Matilda (26%), Cheryl Cole (25%) and the Duchess of Cambridge (21%) also scored highly.

Among parents, TV presenter Carol Vorderman was the top choice, picked by 48%, with actress Helen Mirren (36%), JK Rowling (31%) and comedienne Dawn French (27%) also popular.

When it comes to the perfect male teacher, a third (36%) of children selected Dumbledore, while 26% thought Yoda from Star Wars would do well in front of the blackboard, and the same proportion said chef Jamie Oliver would be perfect in the classroom.

Stephen Fry was picked by 40% of parents, making him the most popular option, followed by naturalist and broadcaster David Attenborough (35%) and businessman Lord Alan Sugar (25%).

:: The YouGov poll questioned 2,014 UK parents with children at secondary school and 530 secondary-age pupils between August 19-30.

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This year’s New Establishment list identifies the top 50 of an innovative new breed of buccaneering visionaries, engineering prodigies, and entrepreneurs—“The Age of Information gives way to a burgeoning Age of Technology,” as Graydon Carter puts it.

There are 14 billionaires on the list: Zuckerberg, Brin and Page, Bezos, Mark Pincus, Michael Moritz, J. K. Rowling, Jim Breyer, Reid Hoffman, Herbert Allen III, Yuri Milner, Robin Li, Parker, and Peter Thiel.

The 2011 New Establishment List – By Vanity Fair Magazine:

1.    Mark Zuckerberg, Facebook
2.    Sergey Brin and Larry Page, Google
3.    Jeff Bezos, Amazon
4.    Tim Cook and Jonathan Ive, Apple
5.    Jack Dorsey, Square, Twitter
6.    Marc Andreessen and Ben Horowitz, Andreessen Horowitz
7.    Reed Hastings, Netflix
8.    John Lasseter, Pixar, Walt Disney Animation Studios
9.    Lady Gaga, singer
10.  Dan Doctoroff, Bloomberg L.P.
11.  Dick Costolo, Twitter
12.  Mark Pincus, Zynga
13.  Jim Breyer, Accel Partners
14.  Tim Burton, Johnny Depp, and Graham King, Movies
15.  Michael Moritz, Sequoia Capital
16.  J. K. Rowling, Harry Potter

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J.K. Rowling has traced her family tree as part of the Who Do You Think You Are? television series. She discovered that she comes from a long line of single mothers.

But despite this, the author with a fortune valued at £530 million by the Sunday Times Rich List, was once voted the most influential woman in the UK.

The Harry Potter creator was voted top by leading magazine editors.

The writer, who recently donated £10 million to set up a new multiple sclerosis research clinic in Edinburgh, was chosen for her writing skills, tenacity to succeed and philanthropic nature, the National Magazine Company said.

The list was compiled to mark the centenary of the National Magazine Company which currently publishes 20 magazines including Good Housekeeping, Country Living, Harper’s Bazaar, Men’s Health, Esquire and Cosmopolitan.

The List:

• J.K. Rowling
• Victoria Beckham
• The Queen
• Shami Chakrabarti
• Cheryl Cole
• Samantha Cameron
• Cath Kidston, designer
• Kate Moss
• Dame Vivienne Westwood
• Dame Tanni Grey-Thompson

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Forbes Magazine has named J.K. Rowling, author of the Harry Potter book series, one of the world’s 30 most inspiring women. After seeking input from ForbesWoman followers on Facebook and Twitter, a list was compiled of the “30 Utterly Inspiring Role Models”, and Rowling was chosen as one of the 30 women who “make the world a better place”. She’s in good company, with Oprah Winfrey, Angelina Jolie, Danica Patrick, Betty White, Elizabeth Glazer, Condoleezza Rice, and Hilary Clinton also making the cuts.

Forbes says of Rowling: “As a single mother, J.K. Rowling took writing stories about a young wizard in a coffee shop and built one of the top-earning literary franchises ever, inspiring movies that have grossed more than $5 billion, spin-off books, theme parks and more.”

The Harry Potter series has sold over 400 million copies worldwide, and has been translated in 65 languages.

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JK Rowling:
It is hard to think of a more powerful female figure to have emerged from Scotland in the past decade than JK Rowling. In 2000, Rowling was cementing her position as the world’s most popular children’s author with her fourth Harry Potter book, which broke all literary sales records in both the US and the UK. By 2007, Forbes magazine had ranked her the 48th most powerful celebrity in the world – not just for her enormous impact on child literacy but for her philanthropic work. Her Volant Charitable Trust funds disadvantaged children and MS research. She is a vocal president of One Parent Families, and successfully campaigned for a law change in Romania concerning caged beds for orphans. Whatever she turns her hand to, Rowling has proved she is capable of effecting real change on a global scale.

Source: here & here