COSTA MESA

He may have bewitched readers young and old all around the world, but it seems not everyone here is captivated by teenage wizard Harry Potter. In response to brewing controversy nationwide and locally, Newport-Mesa Unified Supt. Robert Barbot warned elementary school principals last week to be “aware of the controversy” surrounding the popular children’s books and to make sure teachers are using them “appropriately.”

The three Harry Potter books, “Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone,” “Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets” and “Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban,” have become a worldwide best-selling phenomenon and--a first for children’s books--have even topped the New York Times bestseller list.

But some parents are concerned that the books, which feature the adventures of an orphaned, teenage wizard who attends a school for witchcraft and wizardry and is plagued by his abusive aunt, uncle and cousin, are not appropriate classroom reading.

“Some parents have a problem with it because of the sorcery,” said Julie Chan, the district’s reading coordinator. “But the kids love it. It’s a frenzy on these Harry Potter books.”