BY now almost every schoolchild will have kicked up a fuss about wanting to see the Harry Potter film (that's if the parents didn't drag them along themselves).

I must confess that I was transfixed by the notion of a Potter film early in the year and jumped on the bandwagon of adults reading the books.

I also booked my tickets early so I could be sure of seeing the film on its opening night and I was in the queue to get into the cinema early so as to grab the best seats in the house.

My mother was also excited, though she had only read a few chapters of The Philosopher's Stone (though I had bought her the books a good six months beforehand).

And I must admit that I did enjoy the film, despite the obvious missing scenes.

Whether it will make more people read JK Rowling's works is another thing. My 19-year-old sister went to see it with her uni friends and has now started reading the other Potter books.

"I don't need to read the first one now that I've seen the film," she said when asked if she'd liked the film version of The Philosopher's Stone.

I can imagine schoolchildren across Worcestershire coming out with the same line after they've been to see Lord of the Rings: Fellowship of the Ring, which opens tonight. After all, the book is an epic.

I went into a bookshop in Worcester at the weekend and came across a father and son looking at the stacks of books concerning Lord of the Rings.

The sheer look of terror on the boy's face was enough to tell me that, like my sister, he'd rather sit down and watch the story.

I'm the opposite, I like to read a book before I see the film (though I've yet to get round to seeing Silence of the Lambs and Captain Corelli's Mandolin).

I've already raced through Fellowship of the Ring and I'm now a third of the way into the second in the series Two Towers.

No doubt I'll read it again before that comes to our screens next Christmas.

I didn't get to read these books when I was at school, but I wish I had. Tolkien has a way of creating fantastic images through the words and when the action gets underway the pace of reading quickens.

Yes, the book is an almighty read, but it creates another world, in which you can lose yourself.

After going to see the film tonight I don't know which I'll have enjoyed the most - reading it or watching it.

There's bound to be lots of comparisons, though, with Potter and his gang.

Will Frodo Baggins, Gandalf and company be able to knock Potter off his perch?

Only time can tell, but I hope that it will encourage more children to read.

There have been hundreds of book promotions in the last few years and strategies to get more children reading.

The transformation of two of the most magical books into film should encourage more children to read a book at bedtime.