'Harry Potter' new covers will grace trade paperback versions as of Aug. 27
The new 'Harry Potter' covers, by artist and writer Kazu Kibuishi, were created to honor the 15th anniversary of the US publication of 'Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone.'
Kazu Kibuishi, creator of the new 'Harry Potter' covers, says that at first he hesitated to submit proposed new covers because he considered the originals by artist Mary GrandPré so “fantastic and iconic.”
Previews of the seven new covers for the “Harry Potter” series, created for the 15th anniversary of the first book’s US release, are now available for viewing online.
The covers will be released on new trade paperback editions, which will be available in a box set and for individual buying on Aug. 27.
Kazu Kibuishi, who is behind the Amulet graphic novel series for children (he is both the writer and illustrator), created the new covers. In a statement made when the new editions were announced earlier this year, Kibuishi said he wasn’t sure at first whether to submit samples for the new covers because he considered the original versions by artist Mary GrandPré “fantastic and iconic.”
“I didn't want to see them reinterpreted!” he said. “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.”
The new covers were revealed one by one and now all are available for viewing.
The cover of the first book, “Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone,” shows Harry and Rubeus Hagrid, the groundskeeper for Harry’s school Hogwarts, walking through what is presumably Diagon Alley, a wizards’ shopping area. The cover of the second book, “Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets,” features Harry and his friend Ron in a flying car. The third title, “Prisoner of Azkaban,” depicts Harry creating a Patronus, a misty white guardian which protects the user from harm. “Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire” now sports a cover with Harry protecting a golden egg from a large dragon, while the cover for “Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix” shows him and his friends flying on magical creatures known as thestrals. The sixth title, “Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince,” shows Harry and wise wizard Albus Dumbledore on a cliff top on its cover, while the cover for “Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows” has Harry and his friends Ron and Hermione riding a dragon.
Check out each cover to the side.