Harry Potter

 

AT–A–GLANCE
What is it?

J.K Rowling's phenomenal seven-book fantasy series about adolescent wizard Harry Potter and his adventurous and magical years at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. Each of the seven books chronicles a year in Harry’s life at Hogwarts. The central story arc focuses on Harry’s struggle against the evil wizard, Lord Voldemort, who killed Harry’ parents and tried to kill Harry when he was a baby. Because Harry survived the attack, he is famous in the wizarding world. At Hogwarts, Harry forms everlasting friendships, falls in love, faces immense challenges, endures incredible loss and learns to overcome many magical, social and emotional hurdles.

Who's it for?

Readers of all ages

More Information

Charisse Meloto
cmeloto@scholastic.com
(212) 389-3785

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25th Anniversary


  • 25 Years of Magic | Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone


Trailer: Start the Magic with Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone, narrated by Jim Dale!

 

Latest News

Book Covers

Click on any cover below to open a hi-res version in a new window.

Harry Potter Series 25th Anniversary Editions. Artwork by Marie GrandPré.


 

Harry Potter and the Cursed Child: The Journey: Behind the Scenes of the Award-Winning Stage Production

Harry Potter Series: 20th Anniversary Edition, Artwork by Brian Selznick © 2018 by Scholastic

Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows

Hary Potter Cover Artwork Spread by Brian Selznick


Harry Potter Series: Classic Editions Illustrated by Mary GrandPré

Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows


Harry Potter and the Cursed Child: The Official Playscript of the Original West End Production

Harry Potter and the Cursed Child Parts One and Two: The Official Playscript


Harry Potter Series: Illustrated Editions by Jim Kay

Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone: Illustrated Edition Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets: Illustrated Edition Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban: Illustrated Edition


Harry Potter Series: 15th Anniversary Editions Illustrated by Kazu Kibuishi

Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows


Harry Potter: A Journey Through A History of Magic

Harry Potter: Journey Through A History of Magic


Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them: The Original Screenplay

Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them: The Original Screenplay

Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindelwald: The Original Screenplay

Hogwarts Library (2017 Edition)

The Hogwarts Library Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them Quidditch Through the Ages Tales of Beedle the Bard


Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them: The Illustrated Edition

Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them: The Illustrated Edition

The Tales of Beedle the Bard: The Illustrated Edition

Book Reviews

Highlights and Milestones About the Harry Potter Series

  • Every Harry Potter book has been a number 1 New York Times and USA Today bestseller
  • More than 600 million copies of Harry Potter books have sold worldwide
  • In the US alone, there have been more than 230 million copies of Harry Potter books sold
  • Harry Potter is published in 85 languages
  • The seventh book, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, sold 8.3 million copies in the first 24 hours breaking all publishing records (set by previously published Harry Potter titles)
  • The playscript for Harry Potter and the Cursed Child: Parts One and Two has sold 5 million copies in North America since its publication on July 27, 2015
  • Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them: The Original Screenplay has sold 2 million copies sold in North America since its release on November 18, 2016

Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone (Book 1)

  • Pub Date: September 1998
  • Initial Print run: 50,000
  • Chapters: 17

Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets (Book 2)

  • Pub Date: June 2, 1999
  • Initial Print run: 250,000
  • Chapters: 18

Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban (Book 3)

  • Pub Date: September 8, 1999
  • Initial print run: 500,000
  • Chapters: 22

Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire (Book 4)

  • Pub Date: July 8, 2000
  • Initial Print run: 3.8 million
  • Sold 3 million copies in the first weekend on sale; went back to press for additional 3 million.
  • Chapters: 37

Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix (Book 5)

  • Pub Date: June 21, 2003
  • Initial Print run: 6.8 million
  • Went back pre-publication for second printing of 1.7 million
  • Ordered third printing of 800K on June 24, bringing in print to 9.3 million
  • Sold 5 million copies in first 24 hours
  • Sold 11 million copies in first 12 weeks
  • Chapters: 38

Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince (Book 6)

  • Pub Date: July 16, 2005
  • Initial Print run: 10.8 million
  • Second printing of 2.7 million
  • Sold 6.9 million in the first 24 hours
  • Sold 11 million in first 9 weeks
  • Chapters: 30

Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows (Book 7)

  • Pub Date: July 21, 2007
  • Initial Print run: 12 million
  • Sold 8.3 million in the first 24 hours
  • Sold 11.5 million it first 10 days
  • Chapters: 36 plus Epilogue

(All sales figures are U.S. only)

  • July 8, 2000 – 3.8 million – The record-breaking initial print-run of Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire
  • July 11, 2000 – 3 million – Copies sold in the first weekend from the release of Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire breaking all publishing sales records.
  • March, 12, 2001 – Release of Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them and Quidditch Through the Ages with net proceeds to benefit Comic Relief, UK.
  • June 21, 2003 – 6.8 million – The record-breaking initial print-run of Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix.
  • June 22, 2003 – 5 million – Copies sold in the first 24 hours following the release of Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix, breaking all publishing records.
  • July 16, 2005 – 10.8 million – The record-breaking initial print-run of Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince.
  • July 17, 2005 – 6.9 million – Copies sold in the first 24 hours following the release of Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince, breaking all publishing records.
  • June 14, 2006 – The Scholastic Kids and Family Reading Report reveals that 76% of parents say reading Harry Potter has helped their child do better in school.
  • August 1 & 2, 2006 – 2 sold-out nights of "Harry, Carrie & Garp" J.K. Rowling, Stephen King and John Irving read and answered questions for fans at Radio City Music Hall, benefiting Doctors without Borders and The Haven Foundation.
  • June 4 – July 20, 2007 – 40 libraries across the country visited by the Knight Bus where fans were invited to share on video their thoughts and feelings about the Harry Potter Books.
  • July 21, 2007 – 12 million – The record-breaking initial print-run of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows
  • July 22, 2007 – 8.3 million – Copies sold in the first 24 hours following the release of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, breaking all industry records.
  • August 2, 2007 –  11.5 million – Copies sold in the first 10 days following the release of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows.
  • October 15-19, 2007 – 2,000 – Books signed by J.K. Rowling at each of four free events on the Open Book Tour, where J.K. Rowling read, from Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows and answered questions at the Kodak Theater in Los Angeles, the New Orleans Convention Center and Carnegie Hall in New York City.
  • June 11, 2008 – The Scholastic Kids and Family Reading Report finds that 74% of kids say reading Harry Potter made them interested in reading other books.
  • September 23, 2008 – 7 ½ hours – Spent by hundreds of fans reading aloud J.K. Rowling's first book,Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone in its entirety at Scholastic’s "Cover to Cover" event in celebration of the tenth anniversary of the book’s publication.
  • December 3, 2008 – Scholastic releases The Tales of Beedle the Bard to benefit the Children's High Level Group, a charity co-founded in 2005 by J.K. Rowling and Baroness Nicholson of Winterbourne, MEP to make life better for vulnerable children.

Archive

Click HERE to see select archived photos and videos.

Click HERE to go to the full list of archived press releases.

About J.K. Rowling

(Photography Debra Hurford Brown © J.K. Rowling 2018)

J.K. Rowling is the author of the record-breaking, multi-award-winning Harry Potter novels. Loved by fans around the world, the series has sold more than 500 million copies, been translated into over 80 different languages and made into eight blockbuster films.

She has written three companion volumes in aid of charity: Quidditch Through the Ages and Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them (in aid of Comic Relief and Lumos), and The Tales of Beedle the Bard (in aid of Lumos).

In 2012, J.K. Rowling’s digital company and digital publisher Pottermore was launched, a place where fans can enjoy the latest news from across the wizarding world, features and original writing by J.K. Rowling.

Her first novel for adult readers, The Casual Vacancy, was published in September 2012 and adapted for TV by the BBC in 2015. Her crime novels, written under the pseudonym Robert Galbraith, were published in 2013 (The Cuckoo’s Calling), 2014 (The Silkworm) and 2015 (Career of Evil), and have been adapted for TV as a major BBC detective drama, Strike, produced by Brontë Film and Television.

J.K. Rowling’s 2008 Harvard commencement speech was published in 2015 as an illustrated book, Very Good Lives: The Fringe Benefits of Failure and the Importance of Imagination, and sold in aid of Lumos and university-wide financial aid at Harvard.

In 2016, J.K. Rowling collaborated with writer Jack Thorne and director John Tiffany on the stage play Harry Potter and the Cursed Child Parts One and Two, which is now running at The Palace Theatre in London’s West End and opens on Broadway in early 2018.

Also in 2016, J.K. Rowling made her screenwriting debut with the film Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them. A prequel to the Harry Potter series, this new adventure of Magizoologist Newt Scamander marked the start of a five-film series to be written by the author. The second film in the series will be released in November 2018.

The script books of both the play Harry Potter and the Cursed Child Parts One and Two and the film Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them were published in 2016.

As well as receiving an OBE and Companion of Honour for services to children’s literature and philanthropy, J.K. Rowling has received many awards and honours, including France’s Légion d’Honneur and the Hans Christian Andersen Award. www.jkrowling.com