For the uninitiated, here’s a recap of what the first book in J.K Rowling’s Harry Potter series is all about:

Harry Potter has no idea how famous he is. That’s because he’s being raised by his miserable aunt and uncle who are terrified Harry will learn that he’s a wizard, just as his parents were.

But everything changes when Harry is summoned to attend an infamous school for wizards and he begins to discover some clues about his illustrious birthright.

From the surprising way he is greeted by a lovable giant, to the unique curriculum and colorful faculty at his unusual school, Harry finds himself drawn deep inside a mystical world he never knew existed, one that’s closer to his own noble destiny.

Jim Dale reads an excerpt from “Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone,” courtesy of Listening Library.

The Dursleys were so mean and hideous that summer that all Harry Potter wanted was to get back to the Hogwarts School for Witchcraft and Wizardry. But just as he’s packing his bags, Harry receives a warning from a strange, impish creature named Dobby who says that if Harry Potter returns to Hogwarts, disaster will strike.

And strike it does. For in Harry’s second year at Hogwarts, fresh torments and horrors arise, including an outrageous stuck-up new professor, Gilderoy Lockheart, a spirit named Moaning Myrtle who haunts the girls’ bathroom, and the unwanted attentions of Ron Weasley’s younger sister, Ginny.

But each of these seem minor annoyances when the real trouble begins, and someone — or something — starts turning Hogwarts students to stone. Could it be Draco Malfoy, a more poisonous rival than ever? Could it possibly be Hagrid, whose mysterious past is finally told? Or could it be the one everyone at Hogwarts most suspects: Harry Potter himself?

Listen to an excerpt from “Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets” [Listening Library], read by Jim Dale.

J.K. Rowling was a struggling single mother when she finished her first Harry Potter book with a grant from the Scottish Arts Council. That children’s novel, “Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone,” earned the author a six-figure advance in the United States and quickly became a national bestseller.

About Book 3, “Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban”: For 12 long years, the dread fortress of Azkaban held an infamous prisoner named Sirius Black. Convicted of killing 13 people with a single curse, he was said to be the heir apparent to the Dark Lord, Voldemort.

J.K. Rowling was a struggling single mother when she finished her first Harry Potter book with a grant from the Scottish Arts Council. That children’s novel, “Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone,” earned the author a six-figure advance in the United States and quickly became a national bestseller.

Since then, Rowling’s hero, an orphan wizard, has generated a publishing phenomenon. The 752-page fourth book in the series, “Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire,” generated a media frenzy complete with a multitude of unofficial Harry Potter Web sites and eager speculations about the book’s title and content. Booksellers signed contracts that forbade them from opening shipments of the book until 12:01 a.m. on July 8, 2000, although a Wal-Mart and a Virginia bookstore sold copies before the employees realized their mistake.

There has never been a larger first printing in publishing history. 3.8 million copies were published in the United States alone. To date, over 40 million Harry Potter books have sold worldwide.

The 34-year-old Rowling has won numerous awards, including the 1999 American Booksellers Book Award. She lives in Edinburgh, Scotland, with her daughter.

Listen as Jim Dale reads from “Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire” (Listening Library).