Scholastic will be re-releasing all seven Harry Potter books,
featuring new, re-imagined covers, illustrated by Kazu Kibuishi,
the well-established illustrator of the best-selling "Amulet"
graphic novels.
At this time, only the trade paperback versions of the
Harry Potter books seem to be affected.
Hardcover copies of the Harry Potter will remain in their original state.
Kibuishi answered some questions about his new Potter covers via email last night.
Why redo the Harry Potter covers?
Anything that brings more people to the series is fantastic, and creating a new set of images
is a great way to introduce the fantasy to a new audience.
Being the author of a graphic novel series for middle grade readers,
I’ve spent several years working to teach kids to read- to help them understand and enjoy literature
– so they could take the next step into reading material like Harry Potter and beyond.
So when I have an opportunity to better pave that road- or help open that door –
to literature and learning, I’ll jump at the chance and put a tremendous amount of effort
and thought behind it.
The new generation of readers will likely never have heard of Harry Potter before.
I would love for them to see why the series is a classic.
Scholastic has announced these new paperbacks will hit store shelves sometime this September.