We can decide Pottermania was a phenomenon of the turn of the 21st century. It transformed children's publishing & media of the time, etc.

Or, we can choose to immortalize Harry Potter alongside Alice in Wonderland & Peter Pan.

And kids will still be reading it in 2151.

There have been a wide constellation of stories that have existed in the modern English language children's book era.

Lurlene McDaniel, Choose Your Own Adventure, Encyclopedia Brown were all stories I loved as a child.

Most children today have never read any of the above.

None of these books were burned or "cancelled" or any of the other accusations leveled weekly against those of us doing this work. But they also aren't part of the children's book canon.

Guess who decides what goes in there?

We do.

Teachers and professors today are deciding what goes into curriculum and on our syllabi. We are choosing which stories get retold (restoried).

Parents, families, and caregivers also choose stories. But nostalgia is tempting...

We want our kids to love what we loved as children.

The fangirl in me will always love the story despite the author. So much of HP for me is the friendships I made during very difficult years.

But the teacher, critic & Auntie in me questions whether I should burden kids today with how I felt in 2000 or 2002.

The choice is ours.

I had to say something, given how #TheDarkFantastic has benefitted from its subtitle.

And this thread by no means should be taken as cheerleading for Alice or Peter, both of which I sincerely loved. This decade, we need to think critically about what's in the children's canon.

Stories still exist if they are not amplified through (new) adaptations. Alice, Peter, and Harry will not go out of print. They will be just fine.

I just want us to consider thinking about the amount of space a scant few stories occupy in the formation of collective imagination.