Narrative metalepsis has mostly been regarded and studied as a narratological device typical of
experimental literature; nevertheless, it recurs frequently in modern children’s literature. Die unendliche Geschichte by Michael Ende is perhaps the most well-known case. A comparison between this novel and the Harry Potter series reveals how J.K. Rowling exploits many stereotypes, topoi, and technical devices typical of the genre. Furthermore, it demonstrates the way she subverts the representation of books and the act of reading that are normally related to it. On the whole, the author outlines a portrayal of books and readers which is coherent in itself, but one which is also irretrievably ambiguous and contradictory when related to the kind of reading that Rowling’s narrative urges and incites.
