THE Harry Potter series of books, which have sold more than 400m copies to earn Scots-based author JK Rowling a £560m fortune, have been dismissed as “boring” and inappropriate for young readers by the children’s laureate.

Michael Rosen, the London-born poet and author of We’re Going on a Bear Hunt, has said he feels no emotional attachment to the novels and that he would not read them to his children.

He claims the series of seven instalments are too ambiguous and bear no relation to the real world.

The criticism has outraged fans of the Harry Potter series, which has become a publishing phenomenon and spawned a £7 billion industry ranging from merchandising to blockbuster movies.

Rosen, who was appointed children’s laureate last year by a panel of leading figures in the publishing industry, said he felt no emotional connection to the books and believed most young children would struggle to cope with the books' challenging and often sinister themes.

“They don't grab me personally,” he said. “I am distant from them whereas I read some kids' books and I get quite drawn in emotionally to them.

“Whereas authors like Enid Blyton are hand-holding narrators who lead children into safe environments, JK Rowling is more of an adult writer in that she leaves you hanging in the air at the end of chapters with no idea what's going to happen next.

“Figures appear and you don't know whether they are a goodie or a baddie. You would think, traditionally, ‘That's for an older reader,' because young children more often than not can't cope with that. My seven-year-old daughter watches the films but they tend to spell it out a bit more. I haven't read the books to her, you don't want to bore your kids.”

Rosen succeeded Jacqueline Wilson as the fifth children's laureate. The post, which attracts a £10,000 bursary, involves championing reading and writing for children. The 62-year-old author began his appointment by attacking testing and synthetic phonics, the hugely successful literacy programme that was pioneered in Scotland.

Speaking during a tour of Scotland to promote reading among school pupils last week, Rosen said that while the Harry Potter books deserved credit for encouraging a generation of children to read, he feared their success might prevent youngsters from discovering other authors.

Shami Chakrabarti, director of the human rights group Liberty and chairman of the panel of judges that chose Rosen as children's laureate, said the books encompassed universal themes, which made them ideal reading for all age groups.

“I agree that children shouldn't end their reading with JK Rowling, but the proof of the pudding is that so many have begun with her work,” she said.

“The stories are laced with contemporary themes that have resonated with readers of all ages in the last decade. Racism, the challenges of diversity and the dilemmas of the war on terror are all to be found lurking within the magical world of Harry Potter.”

Randall Stevenson, professor of English Literature at Edinburgh University, also praised the novels: “They are not exactly Lord of the Rings but I think they deserve their success.”

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