I would like to comment on Mr. Sheaffer's claims ("Magic of books disappear when Hollywood commercializes stories," Nov. 21 arts column) that J.K. Rowling has commercialized her novels. How wrong you are. Simply allowing filmmakers to adapt your book into a film doesn't count. Had you researched properly, you would know that J.K. Rowling turned down movie offers for years until Warner Bros. finally promised her creative control and to be faithful to the books and readers.

Originally, Steven Spielberg was attached and wanted to turn Harry Potter into a 90-minute movie that takes place in America and stars Haley Joel Osment.

That's selling out!

Rowling had other conditions: Coca-Cola wasn't allowed to use any of the characters in its commercials and had to donate a portion of its profits to a children's literacy fund-raiser. When's the last time you heard of someone doing that?

The only other book that has reached more countries than Harry Potter is the Bible. The Harry Potter books are also the biggest selling books in modern history. So before you begin to make a fuss about how the Potter movies are ruining the books, check the facts.

The books have gone up the bestseller charts in conjunction with the release of the movies. My brother hates to read, but after seeing the first movie, he began to read the books.

Being a Harry Potter fan, I appreciate both the books and the movies. If you don't like film adaptations, don't watch them. You have free will, right? Use it and stop complaining.