Harri Potter a Maen yr Athronydd (Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone, Welsh Edition) (Hardcover)

~ J. K. Rowling (Author), J.K. Rowling (Author) "Pan ddeffrodd Mr a Mrs Dursley ar y bore Mawrth tamp, llwyd hwnnw lle mae ein stori ni'n dechrau, doedd dim byd yn yr awyr..." (more)
Key Phrases: arnyn nhw, wrth gwrs, beth bynnag, Yncl Vernon, Anti Petiwnia, Athro Dumbledore (more...)

Editorial Reviews

Product Description

J. K. Rowling was born in Chipping Sodbury in the UK in 1965. Such a funny-sounding name for a birthplace may have contributed to her talent for collecting odd names. Jo always loved writing more than anything and in 1996, one year after she finished it, Bloomsbury bought her first novel, Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone.

About the Author

Welsh translation of the first Harry Potter book, Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone in which Harry Potter, a normal eleven-year-old boy, discovers that he is a wizard. Long ago, Harry's parents were killed in a battle with the evil Lord Voldemort. When we first meet Harry, he is living miserably with his repulsive and non-magical (or Muggle) Aunt Petunia and Uncle Vernon Dursley, and their even more revolting son, Dudley. Following a bizarre but hilarious chain of events, Harry finds himself at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, with an outrageous cast of characters, including super-smart Hermione Granger, vile Draco Malfoy, sinister Professor Snape, and the wise Headmaster Albus Dumbledore. Adventures galore ensue.

Product Details

• Reading level: Ages 9-12
  
• Hardcover: 300 pages
• Publisher: Bloomsbury USA Children's Books; Tra edition (June 4, 2003)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1582348278
• ISBN-13: 978-1582348278
• Product Dimensions: 8.2 x 5.4 x 1.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 15 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #520,594 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Harri yn Cymraeg!, February 16, 2005

By	D. Jole "dmjole" (Tacoma, WA United States) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

Dydwi ddim yn credu mod i yr cyntaf yma!
The story is likely familiar to most readers, so I will not comment on that or Rowling's writing here.
But I thoroughly enjoyed the chance to read a book in Welsh! As a non-native Welsh speaker, this was a welcome chance to practice and expand my vocabulary (how many different words are there for look/glance/peer/etc?!) and my grammar.
I read this book with a pair of Welsh dictionaries and the English translation ready at hand. It was a *great* help to know what the line was supposed to say (either from my knowledge of the story or from the English.) I could have read it without the dictionary, I suppose, but I wanted to actually learn the new verbs, and annotate things in the text.
The idiosyncracies of literary Welsh took a bit of getting used to (since I learned conversational Welsh, as most learners do), but after a few days I figured it out. The translator seemed to not be using the South Wales spoken dialect for verbs, pronouns and so on, which was difficult at first also since that is what I learned.
Hagrid's dialect, and various other terms (the 4 houses--Hwfftipwff, Crafangfran, Lleuerol, Slafennog; and Quidditch terms) were great fun to read, but would be confusing to some readers (since they would not be in a dictionary, but can be puzzled out, thanks to the translator's careful work in keeping the sense and meaning of the original English). If you are just learning the language, this book is too complex--I would rate this for medium to advanced learners. (Os dychi'n Cymru Cymraeg, basai'r lyfr yma ddim yn anodd, ond hwyl iawn.)
Pryd dyn ni'n medru darllen y llyfr nesaf?

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars fun if you're learning Welsh, May 27, 2005

By	Ceridwen - See all my reviews

Like the other reviewer, I'm learning Welsh and find it very helpful to read something and then be able to compare it directly to the English translation. I also appreciated just having a break from things written specifically for students, which I often find really tedious - Harri at least is fun.

The translator uses northern Welsh, which I really appreciated because that's what I'm learning - may not be so great for those learning southern, which I think is more common.

I wouldn't, however, recommend that Welsh-speaking kids read this instead of the English - so much of what makes these books good is the wordplay, which doesn't quite translate.