Category: Harry Potter

Which potion gives you the appearance of another person?
Which of the Hogwarts towers is the tallest?

What does the incantation ‘Oppugno’ do?

Discover the answer to these questions and so many more in The Harry Potter Wizarding Almanac, the official magical companion to the Harry Potter stories.

Whisk yourself away to Harry Potter’s wizarding world with this Whiz-bang of an illustrated companion. Discover magical places, study wandlore, encounter fantastic beasts and find out about the witches and wizards who lived. From the Sorting Hat to spell-casting, it’s all packed inside!

Illustration by Levi Pinfold

This dazzling gift book brings together beloved characters, unforgettable moments and iconic locations from Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone all the way through to The Deathly Hallows. It’s the ultimate magical miscellany, filled with facts and fun about the wizarding world, beautifully catalogued and brilliantly explored.

Joyfully illustrated throughout in full colour by seven stunning artists and tingling with things to spot on every page, this is the ideal introduction to the Harry Potter stories for new readers and the perfect book for families to share.

The Harry Potter Wizarding Almanac also features an astonishing level of detail that is sure to surprise and fascinate lifelong fans. From incredible cross-sections to magical maps and ingenious lists, lose yourself exploring Hogwarts and beyond …

Illustration by Weitong Mai

The Harry Potter Wizarding Almanac is illustrated by Peter Goes, Louise Lockhart, Weitong Mai, Olia Muza, Pham Quang Phuc, Levi Pinfold and Tomislav Tomic.

This gorgeous book was published on 10th October by Bloomsbury in the UK and Scholastic in the US.

For international readers, The Harry Potter Wizarding Almanac is also available in Brazil, Bulgaria, China, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Faroe Islands, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Italy, Japan, Kazakhstan, Korea, Latvia, Lithuania, Mongolia, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Serbia, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, Thailand, Turkey, Ukraine and Vietnam.

The new edition of Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban by J.K. Rowling includes over 190 brilliant illustrations and eight interactive paper-engineered elements.

The third book in the Harry Potter series to be reinterpreted by MinaLima, the graphic design studio who created the vision for the Harry Potter and Fantastic Beasts films. Fans can expect to see new illustrations including the Knight Bus and The Marauder’s Map. Elements of the book are interactive, such as enabling fans to banish a boggart. The hardback is released by Scholastic in the US and Bloomsbury in the UK.

For international readers, Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban: MinaLima Edition will be available in Danish, French, German, Japanese, Italian, Korean, Brazilian Portuguese, Portuguese and Spanish.

The Wizarding World invites fans to come together and celebrate a very special date in the Wizarding World calendar: Back to Hogwarts.

This year, fans are invited to join Sam Thompson for a countdown at King’s Cross Station in the United Kingdom and hear the train announcement voiced by a 10-year-old young fan. There are many more activities for global fans. Head to Wizarding World for more details.

Do use #BackToHogwarts and @jkrowling_stories and show us how you’re celebrating 2023’s magical moment!

Ahead of the publication of The Harry Potter Wizarding Almanac, publisher Bloomsbury have taken the opportunity to interview the illustrators who brought this companion title to life.

Pham Quang Phuc is a children’s book illustrator from Vietnam with a rich and decorative style. He has illustrated many books, and considers storytelling a way to balance his life. Among other prizes, Quang Phuc is a winner of The ASEAN Children’s Book Illustrator Best in Fiction award. In the Wizarding Almanac, readers can look out for his truly magnificent magical maps, noble Quidditch champions and sky-swooping, fire-blazing dragons.

Why did you choose to take part in this project and what about it is most exciting for you?

I think Harry Potter is a name that should not be overlooked by book readers and every children’s book illustrator wants to try drawing once in their career. So when this opportunity came, I gladly accepted it and tried my best. I knew that in the group of artists working on the book, there are big names who have worked on other Harry Potter books. I was extremely happy to be able to illustrate in the same book with Levi Pinfold, he is one of the people who inspired me to pursue illustrative work. It’s nice that after about ten years of pursuing this career, I can illustrate in the same book with someone I admired so much when I was an amateur illustrator. I have quite a few friends who are loyal fans of the series. Honestly, I feel that they love the book series more than I do, so I really want to do a good job of this book to give to my friends. The most memorable moment was probably the illustration of the cover of this book. It’s an honour for an unsung artist like me. I have illustrated the spreads in the book and the book cover with a lot of fun and excitement, hoping they will make the fans of the book as excited as I do.

What are your memories of first reading the Harry Potter stories?

I read the series from when I was in middle school until the end of high school. In my memories, the book series came out in my country nearly around the same time as the movie releases. Many fans lined up to buy books at bookstores every time there was a new volume. I didn’t have much money to buy the book because it was quite thick and expensive for me so I had to wait for my friends to finish reading it and borrow it. It’s almost like borrowing a book from a library. I feel like I grew up with characters like Daniel Radcliffe grew up with Harry Potter. In fact, I’m the same age as him. Now, as an adult, I collected Jim Kay’s beautifully illustrated books as a form of service to my work. The book series contributed greatly to bringing me to my current drawing style with dragons, monsters, magic and fantasy worlds. Later, when I had a lot of experience working and receiving illustrations for this book, I reread the books and learned a lot from J.K. Rowling about how she built the wizarding world. They are so vivid and rich in detail, which inspires me a lot.

Who are your favourite Harry Potter characters?

Rubeus Hagrid. He and I love fantastic beasts and dragons.

How did you become an illustrator? Have any other artists or illustrators particularly inspired you and your journey?

Although I love drawing and creating stories from a young age, I found out about the profession of illustrator quite late. When I was young, I wrote and drew a few short comics that were published in several magazines. After graduating from college, I became a graphic designer because there are not too many illustrators in my country. It’s not a common job. Having been in the design business for a short time, I discovered how interesting being an illustrator could be when I read some picture books. Black Dog by Levi Pinfold is one of them, that made me know how wonderful a picture book could be.  It reminded me of what I used to love as a kid, drawing and writing children’s stories, so I tried to educate myself to become a book illustrator. I admire illustrators who can draw and write books brilliantly at the same time. I am a big fan of Jimmy Liao, Shaun Tan, Levi Pinfold, Oliver Jeffers … I love their works because their books are genius and their artworks are inspired. Their paintings help me expand my imagination.

How did you approach illustrating your sections of the book? Was illustrating the wizarding world difficult?

I’ve drawn pretty much everything in the fantasy world of fairy tales, but I’ve never drawn anything directly related to this series. I was a fan of the series as a child but I haven’t read them in a while. I reread all seven books, rewatched the eight movies to make sure what kind of spirit I wanted to convey to the readers. I think the biggest difficulty is to bring a lot of details from the book into my paintings. Fortunately, the process was hard, but it was also fun because I was once again living in the wizarding world, just like I was when I was a kid.

Bloomsbury have already shared your stunning Beyond the Reach of Magic spread to readers worldwide as a preview for the publication in October 2023. Please could you tell us a little bit about the making of this piece of artwork?

I was a bit pressured at first when I was tasked with this illustration. This is an important spread because it recalls the many meanings and emotions of the series. The characters in Harry Potter have been drawn by many famous artists. The actors of the film are also famous. It is difficult to create a cast of characters exactly as described in the book as well as to satisfy the imagination of the readers. It sounds funny but when I was in middle school, the movie Harry Potter came out and my friends said that I resembled the main character in the movie just because we both wore glasses. I felt relieved when I remembered this silly thing. I understood that everyone has the right to imagine the characters in the book in their own way and so did I. I started drawing the characters according to my imagination. Maybe they’d look a bit like someone I used to know or some famous character I’ve seen on TV. I ended up drawing Harry Potter that reminded me a bit of myself as a kid.

Aside from the Beyond the Reach of Magic page, what was your favourite spread to illustrate, and why?

I love Quidditch Through the Ages because I love watching sports on TV, especially soccer. I made that spread while watching the FIFA World Cup 2022. I love sportsmanship and positive, energetic things. Therefore I had a lot of fun when illustrating that spread. That is a great time of my life. Besides that, two maps (Fantastic Beast & Where to Find Them and Harry’s Corner of the Wizarding World) are my favourite spreads, too.

What is your Hogwarts house?

Ravenclaw.

The Harry Potter Wizarding Almanac publishes on 10 October 2023 – available to pre-order in 34 languages all over the world!

Write about a magical place, learn how to draw Hogwarts and even cast a spell or two…

To celebrate Harry Potter Book Day on Thursday 12th October, publisher Bloomsbury have created a virtual headline event hosted by Harry Potter film star Evanna Lynch (who played Luna Lovegood – as if you needed telling), in partnership with Twinkl and Warner Bros. Studio Tour London – The Making of Harry Potter.

This magical event includes a Magical Places creative writing session from the Great Hall, a spell-casting class from platform nine and three-quarters and a How To Draw Hogwarts session with Harry Potter illustrator Jonny Duddle. It is free for teachers to show during the school day or for parents, carers, or guardians to enjoy with their children after school!

Watch the event in full below.

This virtual event will spark the creative imagination of children aged 7 and above (and their teachers!) all over the world; introducing a whole new generation of young readers to J.K. Rowling’s Harry Potter book series as part of the celebrations for Harry Potter Book Day!

Evanna Lynch says, ‘I fell in love with the Harry Potter books when I was 8, and my appreciation for the magical world and its complex, wonderful characters has only deepened as I’ve grown older, and revisited them again and again. It would be impossible to quantify the impact these books have had on my life, but suffice to say they made me a lifelong reader and a writer, and that the characters continue to inspire me as an adult. As the daughter of two teachers, I love the idea of schools spreading the magic of these books to a new generation of children. I’m delighted to present this special lesson and hope it inspires them to pick up a pen, a book – or even a wand.’

Sign up to receive a free event kit and a link to the lesson on Bloomsbury’s website now!

Evanna’s special lesson and a host of additional teaching resources are available now on twinkl.co.uk.

Welcome back to another summer of storytelling, as we introduce J.K. Rowling’s wizarding world to the next generation!

Join us for three weeks of spellbinding fun as we help introduce Harry Potter to brand new, budding fans with interactive magic and family activities.

In July, we encourage someone’s new journey in Starting Harry Potter with a collection of free resources and online goodies to help your adventure begin.

From exploring Hogwarts with a sneak peek at the soon to be published The Harry Potter Wizarding Almanac, to a read along with Stephen Fry, start your journey into the wizarding world with the Starting Harry Potter hub right now!

Lift the lid on everything you ever needed to know about the world of Harry Potter with the first official magical companion to J.K. Rowling’s series.

Publishing in October 2023, The Harry Potter Wizarding Almanac is a unique exploration through the wizarding world that will appeal to young fans setting out on their first journey to Hogwarts, whilst playfully layering secrets and rich detail for expert readers to discover. A dazzling, full-colour hardback featuring a ribbon bookmark and illustrated endpapers, The Harry Potter Wizarding Almanac is a superbly sorted, show-stopping gift book that is sure to be treasured for years to come.

Uniquely rooted in J.K. Rowling’s original writing, this must-have companion is a visual compendium of charts, cross-sections and magical particulars, collecting together enchanted objects, fabulous foodstuffs, curious plants and fantastic beasts from the wizarding world.

Set across seven spectacular chapters, readers can find out about much-loved characters, relive favourite moments, learn about spells and magic, search for hidden secrets and lose themselves exploring Hogwarts and beyond. From the Sorting Hat to spell-casting, it’s all packed inside.

This celebration of the Harry Potter series has been produced with seven uniquely talented illustrators from around the globe – Peter Goes, Louise Lockhart, Weitong Mai, Olia Muza, Pham Quang Phuc, Levi Pinfold and Tomislav Tomić – with each artist bringing their own extraordinary creative vision to J.K. Rowling’s wizarding world.

The Harry Potter Wizarding Almanac will publish 10^th October 2023, released by Bloomsbury in the UK and Scholastic in the US.

Bloomsbury’s global celebration of J.K. Rowling’s Harry Potter stories is back in 2023, with a few changes …

The celebration has a new name: HARRY POTTER BOOK DAY

Previously Harry Potter Book Night, the event is now even more inclusive for fans of all ages – whether you’re an early bird or a night owl, you can celebrate at whatever time of the day, or night, suits you!

It’s moving to 12^th October 2023

Plenty of time to get planning!

What is Harry Potter Book Day?

Harry Potter Book Day is a chance for fans around the globe to celebrate J.K. Rowling’s iconic series with events, parties and other festivities.

Each year Bloomsbury creates a downloadable event kit, packed to the brim with ideas and activities that can be used to hold your own event – whether you are a bookshop, school, library or want to celebrate at home with family and friends. The kit contains everything you need to prepare an event, however big or small.

How to get involved

Find out more and sign up to register for the downloadable event kit on Bloomsbury’s website now at bloomsbury.com/harrypotterbookday.

Pottermore Publishing and Audible have announced an extraordinary milestone – over one billion hours of the Harry Potter stories have now been listened to on Audible globally, since the audiobooks were first made available there seven years ago!  Mind you, that’s just a number (even if it is a massive one)! What’s immeasurable is the love that fans have for these stories.  To help you visualise that figure, in one billion hours you could hypothetically:

• Take the iconic train journey from King’s Cross to Edinburgh 222 million times
• Listen to Harry Potter books 1-7 read by Jim Dale 8,547,009 times
• Go through Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry more than 14,000 times!

Stephen Fry, who narrates the UK English editions of the audiobooks, says: ‘These statistics are astonishing. Almost every day someone will come up and tell me how important the audiobooks have been in their lives, and it means the world to me.’  Jim Dale, narrator of the North American editions, says: ‘Especially rewarding for me has been the opportunity to touch the lives of so many young people, and the knowledge that my spoken words have brought both comfort and support when needed, and, of course always, so much magic!’

Jennie McCann, Pottermore’s MD, explains: ‘We’re so delighted how many listeners have made a permanent place in their lives for these audiobooks. The original recordings that were released on CD are cherished versions of these incredible stories, so we took great care when remastering them to deliver the best sound quality for the new generation of listeners. We’ve since produced and released editions in an array of further languages and continue to add to that list each year both on Audible and via other platforms.’  Diana Dapito, Head of Consumer Content at Audible, says ‘the evergreen popularity and insatiable appetite for the Harry Potter audiobooks on Audible is both staggering and, at once, not at all surprising.’

We’d love to hear your stories of listening to Harry Potter on audio – share your listening love on social media using the hashtag #HarryPotterxAudible #HearTheMagic

Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix is set to be brought to life this October by award-winning illustrator Jim Kay and guest collaborator Neil Packer

This illustrated version has been nearly two years in the making, a mammoth task as highlighted by the meticulously detailed artwork shown below. As the project unfolded, Jim Kay decided that it was time to bring in guest collaborator and dear friend, Neil Packer, to help bring the story to life. Jim said:

‘Illustrating Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix was always going to be a challenge; the scale of the book meant for a huge variety of characters and locations to choose from. It was a great privilege to have Neil Packer helping with this daunting task. As a fan of his work it was wonderful to see his illustrations appear in the text, and so nice to be working with him in the team. He is perfect for Potter.’

Neville Longbottom and Luna Lovegood by Jim Kay

Neil Packer added: ‘As both a friend and a colleague it was an honour to be asked to work alongside Jim Kay on this book. Jim has invested so much in this series already and I was very conscious of not wanting to encroach on the stunning work which only he can do. The sheer scale of this book and the wonderful richness of imagination within the writing perhaps left space for a second approach and it has been a great joy and a challenge to try and work in harmony with Jim’s pictures and to visualise some of J.K. Rowling’s wizarding world.’

Neil is a well-renowned illustrator in his own right, and his distinctive artwork has been woven through the book complementing Jim’s narrative scenes. One example of his exquisite artwork is this beautiful imagining of Firenze’s Divination classroom.

Firenze’s Divination classroom by Neil Packer

These are just snippets of the exciting illustrations set to feature in this edition. You can expect to see so much more, from Jim Kay’s portrait of Dolores Umbridge and stunning visualisation of the Battle of the Department of Mysteries to Neil Packer’s cutaway of the Ministry of Magic and beautifully drawn magical objects.

The illustrated edition of Harry’s fifth year adventure is published in hardback on 11^th October 2022.

A Magical Year takes readers on an unforgettable journey through the seasons at Hogwarts and pairs the beautiful illustrations by Jim Kay with 366 quotations from the Harry Potter novels by J.K. Rowling.

The illustrations feature Jim Kay’s most iconic art from the Illustrated Editions of Harry Potter as well as previously unseen pencil sketches and preparatory pieces, offering a unique and fascinating insight into the artist’s sketchbook. This gorgeous gift book features a favourite anniversary or meaningful memory from the series each day and was published on 5^th October by Bloomsbury in the UK with Scholastic in the US shortly following on 19^th October.

For international readers, A Magical Year will be available in Danish, Estonian, Faroese, Swedish, Slovakian, Portuguese (Portugal), Korean, Spanish, Japanese, Italian and Russian this month.

The Hogwarts Library book Quidditch Through The Ages, written by J.K. Rowling as esteemed fictional Quidditch expert Kennilworthy Whisp, has been reimagined by award-winning illustrator Emily Gravett. This colourful new edition is published today in Hardback and Deluxe editions by Bloomsbury in the UK and Scholastic in the US.

The book, arguably the most famous sports guide in the wizarding world, contains all you need to know about the history, the teams, the rules – and the breaking of the rules – of the noble sport of Quidditch.

Tasked with illustrating the fictional history of this magical sport, Emily Gravett’s wildly creative imagination conjured up a cornucopia of sporting memorabilia to surprise and delight. With items and events lovingly created in a dazzling range of media, and infused with the illustrator’s trademark visual wit, these charming and funny artworks are the perfect pairing for J.K. Rowling’s insights into the magical, airborne sport.

Proceeds from the sale of this new edition will go to J.K. Rowling’s own international children’s charity Lumos, which helps some of the world’s most vulnerable children and young people to have a better life, and Comic Relief.

Stars from the Wizarding World including Jude Law, Warwick Davis, Noma Dumezweni, Jason Isaacs, Evanna Lynch, Sally Mortemore and Bonnie Wright have joined forces to record individual stories from J.K. Rowling’s Hogwarts Library book The Tales of Beedle the Bard: the first time the book has been brought to life in audio, which is also supporting J.K. Rowling’s international children’s charity Lumos.

The Tales of Beedle the Bard was first referenced in Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows as the fictional fairy tales all wizarding children grew up with.  Within this collection of fables was the origin story of the Deathly Hallows, ‘The Tale of the Three Brothers’, which taught Harry about the three most powerful objects in the wizarding world.

These funny and captivating tales are accompanied by explanatory notes from Professor Albus Dumbledore (narrated by Jude Law). His illuminating thoughts reveal the stories to be much more than simple moral tales

The Tales of Beedle the Bard was originally handwritten and illustrated by J.K. Rowling as a limited edition of only seven copies, one of which was sold at auction in 2007 in aid of charity. Published the following year, the book has helped raised money for her international children’s charity Lumos ever since.

For more information about The Tales of Beedle The Bard audio edition go to wizardingworld.com.

Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire has been brought to life by award-winning illustrator Jim Kay. This is the fourth book in the Harry Potter series to be illustrated by him and has been published today by Bloomsbury in the UK and Scholastic in the US.

The fiery cover shows Kay’s stunning reimagining of the first task in the Triwizard Tournament when Harry goes head to head with a Hungarian Horntail.

Newt Scamander’s Hogwarts Library classic Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them has been brought to life with stunning illustrations by award winning artist Olivia Lomenech Gill. The colourful new edition is now published by Bloomsbury in the UK and Scholastic in the US

The award-winning artist has reimagined every beast in the textbook with a variety of different techniques, such as charcoal sketches and watercolours. You can see Olivia in action here.

Proceeds from the sale of these books will go to Comic Relief and J.K. Rowling’s own international children’s charity Lumos, which both help some of the world’s most vulnerable young people to have better lives.

To find out more and read an exclusive interview with artist Olivia Lomenech Gill, head over to Pottermore.

Pottermore revealed on 5^th September that the 2015 illustrated print edition of Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone, featuring magnificent illustrations by award-winning artist Jim Kay, is now available as a Kindle in Motion eBook. Featuring never-before-seen animations, this is the first time that Jim Kay’s Harry Potter illustrations are available in a digital format.

The Kindle in Motion edition of Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone can be read on any device with the Kindle app.

You can see Jim Kay’s beautiful illustrations brought to life, on pottermore.com. With moving portraits of Albus Dumbledore, flying snitches and fluttering keys this really is magic in motion.