September will be 20 years since Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone was first released in the U.S., and publisher Scholastic is marking the anniversary with brand new editions of the entire series featuring covers drawn by Caldecott Medal-winning author and illustrator Brian Selznick.
Scholastic released the new cover art Tuesday. Every cover stands on its own to depict scenes from each of the seven books, but the images can also be put side by side to form one long image illustrating the entire series.
Selznick, who is best known for his books The Invention of Hugo Cabret and Wonderstruck, said he wanted the covers to reflect the relationships between the characters in the Potter series.
“I’m a huge Harry Potter fan (a proud Hufflepuff!) and to be asked to illustrate the 20th anniversary edition covers was an absolute honor. I knew this project came with so much responsibility to the stories, as well as to the readers,” Selznick said in a Scholastic press release.
The Harry Potter 20th anniversary editions will be available in paperback June 26, 2018, with a boxed set designed by Selznick following in September.
More new releases
Those aren’t the only Potter-related books Scholastic will be publishing this year: Also watch for the screenplay of Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindelwald when the film premieres Nov. 16 and books tied to the Harry Potter: A History of Magic British Library exhibition opening at the New-York Historical Society Oct. 5.
If it feels like you just bought a 20th anniversary edition of a Harry Potter book – no, you’re not imagining things. British publisher Bloomsbury released House-specific editions of Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone last year, which marked the 20th anniversary since the first book was published across the Atlantic. (England initially got to read Harry Potter in 1997; Sorcerer’s Stone was first published in the U.S. in September 1998.)
But speaking of those House editions, Bloomsbury will be publishing new House-themed versions of Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets on June 26, 2018, the second book’s 20th anniversary in England.
