New 'Harry Potter' Book Covers Unveiled

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By Neha Prakash2013-07-31 19:40:48 UTC

In honor of Harry Potter's 33rd birthday (and author J.K. Rowling's birthday) on Wednesday, Scholastic unveiled a new cover for Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows , the final book of the series and the last book to receive an updated cover by artist Kazu Kibuishi.

Scholastic sanctioned the New York Times bestselling author and illustrator to revamp the book covers to celebrate the 15th anniversary of the U.S. publication of Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone, the first novel in the seven-book series.

The new covers focus on pivotal scenes in the books and provide more detailed landscapes of key plot locations like Hogsmeade and Diagon Alley. The new Deathly Hallows cover depicts Harry, Ron and Hermoine escaping from Gringotts Wizarding Bank on the back of a dragon.

The original U.S. covers, illustrated by Marie GrandPre, generally just focused on the Harry Potter character. GrandPre's drawings will continue to be featured on printed U.S. editions, but the new covers will be sold in a special box set available on Aug. 27th.

Kibuishi also redesigned the artwork on the spines of the books. When the full box set is placed in order, it will reveal a sweeping image of Hogwarts at night. Scholastic will continue to unveil one new design per day for the next week of the updated back covers of the books.

HarryPotter_BoxedSpines Image: Scholastic

According to Scholastic, 150 million Harry Potter books circulate in print in the U.S. alone, and worldwide sales of the Harry Potter series exceed 450 million copies.

Check out the new book covers next to the original artwork below. Which ones do you prefer? Tell us in the comments below.