Harry Potter Series Gets New Book Covers For 15th Anniversary

Designed by Kazu Kibuishi

It is hard to believe it has been 15 years since the Harry Potter series began. I was only 10 when they came out and it feels like they have been a huge part of my life and the world since. For the 15th anniversary of the series written by J.K. Rowling, Scholastic has revealed that each book will be getting a new cover.

The first cover has already been unveiled for the first book in the series, “Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone.,” which you can see above. Like this one, each book will get a new cover that will focus on an important scene from that novel. They are designed by Kazu Kibuishi, author and illustrator of the graphic novel series “Amulet.”

Since the first novel hit shelves, the entire series went on to sell 450 million copies worldwide not to mention sold out worldwide in a film franchise phenomenon.

In case you are a fan of the original artwork, don’t worry. Ellie Berger, the president of Scholastic Trade Publishing, confirmed that the new covers will not replace the original ones that were designed by Mary GrandPré. Her artwork will still be used on hardcovers and less expensive mass-market paperback editions.

“We thought it was time for a fresh approach” for the trade paperbacks “as of a way of attracting the interest of a new generation of 8- and 9-year-olds who may know Harry mostly through the movies.”

Kibuishi commented on the original artwork as well explaining that the art from GrandPré is iconic and was hesitant to work on such fantastic pieces.

“When I was asked to submit samples, I initially hesitated because I didn’t want to see them reinterpreted. However, I felt that if I were to handle the project, I could bring something to it that many other designers and illustrators probably couldn’t, and that was that I was also a writer of my own series of middle-grade fiction.”

Scholastic also announced that in November, it will release the first box set of the complete Hogwarts Library, including Quidditch Through the Ages, Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them, and The Tales of Beedle the Bard. Sales of the Hogwarts Library will support two charities: Lumos, which was founded by Rowling and works to end the institutionalization of children, and Comic Relief, which is aimed at creating a world free from poverty.