New covers will be created for Harry Potter’s 15th anniversary

Redesigned paperback covers of the seven Harry Potter books will be released to celebrate the 15th anniversary of The Sorcerer’s Stone’s U.S. publication.

The first of the covers was revealed Wednesday, featuring Harry and Rubeus Hagrid in a scene from the novel. The entire Harry Potter series had sold more than 450 million copies all over the world. Kazu Kibuishi, a graphic novelist and illustrator, will design the books.

Mary GrandPré was the original designer of the book’s hardcover editions.

Eillie Berger, president of Scholastic Trade Publishing told USA Today, “We thought it was time for a fresh approach 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."

All seven books in the series have reached No. 1 on USA Today’s Best-Selling Books list.

Kibuishi told Scholastic in a press release, “As an author myself, I tried to answer the question, 'If I were the author of the books - and they were like my own children - how would I want them to be seen years from now?'”

Image Courtesy of Scholastic