Which 1997 children's novel by J.K. Rowling has been frequently banned for supposedly promoting witchcraft?

Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone is J.K. Rowling's 1997 children's novel that was frequently challenged for allegedly promoting witchcraft.

The first book in the Harry Potter series introduces Harry, an orphan who discovers that he is a wizard and begins studying at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. Bloomsbury published the British edition on June 26, 1997. In the United States, Scholastic released it under the alternate title Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone in 1998.

Religious critics and some schools objected to the book's magic, spells, curses, occult references, and depiction of witchcraft. The series appeared on the American Library Association's Top 10 Banned Books lists in 2001, 2002, 2003, and 2019. Challenges often targeted the series as a whole, although the first novel introduced the elements that prompted many objections.

The title difference can cause confusion, but Philosopher's Stone is the original British title and the canonical answer to this question. Harry Potter is also frequently confused with His Dark Materials or The Chronicles of Narnia, which faced separate controversies and are different series.