War Horse owes a lot to Harry Potter. The spectacular stage show now touring Australia is a fine example of a trend that started with Potter: finding adult audiences for stories that began as children’s books.
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In the 15 years since parents began reading their children’s copies of The Philosopher’s Stone and enjoying it, adults have become a booming marketplace for children’s writers. Forty per cent of Young Adult books sold in the US are now bought by adults who plan to read them themselves, according to a recent study by Publisher’s Weekly.
