On July 2, 1998 Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets hit shelves in the United Kingdom. Barely a year after the small publication and release of the first Harry Potter number, the Boy Who Lived was beginning to become as famous in the Muggle world as he was in the Wizarding World. Whispers and word of mouth had jumped the pond to the United States, and with the success of the second book, Scholastic was looking to make the largest bet in history at the time on a relatively unknown children’s book ($105,000).
Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets became the turning point in literature and J.K. Rowling’s life. The second book boosted notoriety of the series–proving Harry Potter wasn’t a one-hit wonder with mediocre sequels, but a series that would change the literary world forever.
Critically acclaimed as a book to be “re-read into adulthood,” and collecting several literary awards and honors for children’s literature, Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets is still making an impact 18 years later.
Though the first and second Harry Potter book wouldn’t beginning it’s journey to world publishing in 1999, many of the first Harry Potter fans from the U.K. remember the release of the second Harry Potter book.
For the older fans and younger fans alike, whether you started the series in 1997 or in 2016, please share with us your favorite stories and memories of reading and re-reading Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets!
Jim Kay’s illustrated edition of Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets is set to be released later this year (October). News of the deluxe edition of the illustrated book has just been released.
The deluxe edition of the book will feature a red slip cover, etched with a giant gold spider. The book itself features an identically design cover, with a gold etched image of Hogwarts.
Bloomsbury wrote:
“Picture the magic – discover J.K. Rowling’s extraordinary wizarding world with the glorious Deluxe edition of the full-colour illustrated Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets – Rowling’s original, unabridged text paired with breathtaking illustrations by Jim Kay, winner of the Kate Greenaway Medal.
“The much-loved second novel in the series brings wonderful illustrated set-pieces, dark themes and unforgettable characters – including Dobby and Gilderoy Lockhart. This beautiful, deluxe edition of J.K. Rowling’s timeless classic features an opulent page size and an exclusive pull-out double gatefold; intricate foiled line art by Jim Kay on the real cloth cover and slipcase; gilt edges on premium grade paper; head and tail bands and two ribbon markers – the ultimate must-have edition for any Potter fan, collector or bibliophile.”
The deluxe edition can be preordered here, and the normal illustrated edition can be preordered here.
A lot to say and so little time to say it. Let’s get started!
Today, if you are at all feeling blue, I suggest you read The Toast piece Jaya Catches Up: A Little Princess which is a killer breakdown of what is inarguably a problematic book. The Marie Antoinette portions are particularly choice.
Next, the 2016 Hans Christian Andersen Award Winners were announced. What does that mean for you? It means you should be boning up on your international children’s book knowledge, of course. Commit the names “Rotraut Susanne Berner of Germany” (who won for Illustration) and Cao Wenxuan of China (who won for Writing)” to memory. For more info on the books and the winners, go here.
If you were speaking to the man on the street (or woman, or child, or what have you) and they said, “Boy, those children’s books took the hardest left turn a series ever took”, what series would you assume the person was speaking about? Here is your answer and it’s a heckuva amusing post to boot.
Seven Impossible Things features Gareth Hinds. And all is right with the universe.
Oh. In a weird way this makes sense. They’re turning The Secret Life of the Lonely Doll, the biography of Dare Wright, creator of the Lonely Doll book series, in to a film with Naomi Watts and Jessica Lange. You know what that means, don’t you? Lonely Doll fever is poised to sweep the nation. Be wary. Be warned. And buy stock in frilly underwear.
Remember when J.K Rowling said she had this “political fairytale” that was going to be her next non-Harry Potter children’s book? Looks like it’s kaputski. Which is to say, about 30 years after Ms. Rowling’s death someone will pull it out of that drawer and publish it anyway. So it goes.
This next one’s roundabout three years old but I only just found it. The mom from the Cat in the Hat finally speaks. Quite frankly, I always found that polka-dotted dress of hers rather fetching (to say nothing of her keen shoes) but that may just be me.
If you had the great good fortune to see the NYPL exhibit The ABC of It then you would have noticed one section was dedicated to a fascinating array of Soviet children’s art. I remember helping curator Leonard Marcus locate these books (of which NYPL owns a goodly number) and he picked and chose the best amongst them. But where did they originate? Having recently finished M.T. Anderson’s Symphony for the City of the Dead, I took the little bit of context I’d acquired and applied it to this fabulous piece on tygertale called Revolutionary Russian Children’s Books. Now I’m just beginning to understand. Thanks to Phil Nel (I’m pretty sure) for the link.
Growing up my mom had a machine in the attic that could type out braille. I don’t know why we owned it but I liked it a lot. Braille children’s books available in a mass market context have always been difficult to obtain, though. With this in mind, I’m very pleased to see DK is now releasing a braille board book series. Wow. Way to go, DK!
All right. My four-year-old is upstairs asleep and in her room are all my Harry Potter books. Otherwise I would check this myself. You see, they just released the first look of the new Jim Kay illustrated Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets. And I am staring and staring at this cover and I need your help. Look at the cover right here:
Am I crazy or is that car chock full of Weaselys? And doesn’t Harry drive to Hogwarts with just Ron? At least that’s what the old British cover told me:
So . . . huh? [Note: Interestingly the Buzzfeed article has plenty of comments but no one is pointing this out so I may just be completely and utterly wrong about everything]
In other news, the Andre Norton Award for Young Adult Science Fiction and Fantasy longlist was just released. Frances Hardinge made the cut!!! Wooty woot woot woot!!
Seriously Wicked, Tina Connolly (Tor Teen)
Court of Fives, Kate Elliott (Little, Brown)
Cuckoo Song, Frances Hardinge (Macmillan UK 5/14; Amulet)
Archivist Wasp, Nicole Kornher-Stace (Big Mouth House)
Zeroboxer, Fonda Lee (Flux)
Shadowshaper, Daniel José Older (Levine)
Bone Gap, Laura Ruby (Balzer + Bray)
Nimona, Noelle Stevenson (HarperTeen)
Updraft, Fran Wilde (Tor)
Oh, I absolutely love this. Children’s art. Not art for children, mind you, but art by children and its ramifications when studying history. Again, I think I have Phil Nel to thank for this one. He finds all the good stuff.
Daily Image:
The Make Way for Ducklings statues are nothing new (nor are they the only ducklings as my old post on all the public children’s literature statues in America attests). Nor is it new to put hats on them. That said, this recent yarnbombing goes above and beyond the call of duty. That’s some seriously good knitting!
Read more about them here.
BuzzFeed exclusively revealed a first look at Jim Kay’s new work on the illustrated edition of Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets. The pop-culture news site revealed the cover art, as well as one beautiful diagrammed image of a Phoenix.
Please take a look at the new images below. Visit the original BuzzFeed article here.
Following speculations, Pottermore and Little Brown UK have just announced that the script book for Cursed Child will be released July 31st (Harry Potter / J.K. Rowling’s birthday)!
Pottermore reports:
A host of new print and digital publishing has been announced from J.K. Rowling’s Wizarding World, including a Special Rehearsal Edition of the script book of new stage play Harry Potter and the Cursed Child Parts I & II.
Print and digital editions will publish simultaneously after the play’s world premiere this summer, and will comprise of the version of the play script at the time of the play’s preview performances.
Theatre previews allow the creative team the chance to rehearse and explore scenes further before a production’s official opening night. Harry Potter and the Cursed Childopens for previews several weeks before its official first performance on Saturday 30 July and the Special Rehearsal Edition of the script book will later be replaced by a Definitive Collector’s Edition.
The news confirms that fans around the world will be able to join this next venture into the Wizarding World, so don’t fret if you didn’t get tickets to the play!
Pottermore also announced the release of Special Editions, and Jim Kay’s next illustrated edition of Harry Potter and The Chamber of Secrets!:
Next year will see the publication of four special editions of the first book in the UK, one for each of the four Hogwarts houses. There will also be a brand new edition of Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them in 2017, with new content by J.K. Rowling, as well as new formats and editions of the Hogwarts Library books – Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them, Quidditch Through the Ages and The Tales of Beedle the Bard.
Pottermore doesn’t play favourites, but we’re especially looking forward to nabbing a copy of Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets illustrated by Jim Kay. That’s coming a little sooner, in October 2016, and we’ll be prodding Jim for a look at his latest work soon because we’re nosy like that.
2016 is looking like a huge year – Cursed Child, Fantastic Beasts, more Jim Kay illustrations – what more could we want?!
According to BBC News, a group of more than 60 scholars have congregated at the University of St. Andrews in Scotland to discuss the literary merits of the Harry Potter series over the next two days.
The conference, entitled "A Brand of Fictional Magic: Reading Harry Potter as Literature," will feature over 50 lectures about the series with topics ranging from the role of paganism, British national identity and how death is dealt with in the books. A complete anthology based on this conference is expected to be published in 2013.
Conference organizer, Professor John Patrick Pazdziora, had this to say about putting together such a conference:
"We can't avoid the fact that Harry Potter is
the main narrative experience of an entire generation - the children who
literally grew up with Harry Potter.
"The Harry Potter novels are simply the most important and
influential children's books of the late-20th and early 21st Centuries."
"For very many people, this is their first
experience of literature, and of literary art. So they want to think
about it, and analyse it, and talk about it."
J.K. Rowling will receive the Freedom of the City of London on Tuesday, May 8 for her services to children's literature, according to a press release from the City of London.
The ceremony will take place at the Mansion House, the official residence of London's Lord Mayor. She will read aloud the Declaration of a Freeman and be presented with a framed parchment certificate.
In a statement, Ms. Rowling spoke of what the award means to her and some special perks:
“Both my parents were Londoners. They met on a train
departing from King’s Cross Station in 1964, and while neither of
them ever lived in London again, both their daughters headed
straight for the capital the moment that they were
independent. To me, London is packed with personal memories,
but it has never lost the aura of excitement and mystery that it
had during trips to see family as a child.
“I am prouder than I can say to be given the Freedom of the
City, which, on top of all the known benefits (and few people
realize this), entitles me to a free pint in The Leaky Cauldron and
a ten Galleon voucher to spend in Diagon Alley.”
The Freedom of the City of London can be traced back to
1237. Today, people are presented with the award because it
offers them a link with the historic City of London and one of its
ancient traditions.
Thank you to
In Honor of Rowling for the tip!
The official Pottermore shop was launched this morning, marking the first time that the Harry Potter books are available to buy in an eBook and digital audio book format.
This will be the only place to purchase digital copies of the Harry Potter series, which will be available in all formats for eReaders, tablets, smartphones and mp3 players.
The eBooks for Years 1-3 are available for $7.99, while Years 4-7 are priced at $9.99. Or, the complete series can be purchased for $57.54.
Digital audio books for Years 1-3 will cost $29.99, and Years 4-7 is priced at $44.99. The complete Harry Potter audio collection can be purchased for $ 242.94.
Even though the Pottermore shop is now open, Pottermore remains in beta. It's expected to open to everyone in April.
A sketch of Harry Potter with the mythical hippogriff Buckbeak drawn by former Harry Potter illustrator Cliff Wright will be up for auction at the end of the month, the Daily Mail reports.
Mr. Wright was the illustrator of the UK Harry Potter book covers for Sorcerer's Stone through Prisoner of Azkaban. The sketch was made in 2002, and is estimated to sell for £10,000 at the Antiques for Everyone Fair in Birmingham from October 27 - 30.
See a preview of this rare drawing at this link!
As the year draws to an end, Scholastic, US publishers of the Harry Potter novels, have a reminder for us today of the remarkable decade that was, and the amazing impact of the Harry Potter series by J.K. Rowling. The sales figures are staggering, but as publisher Arthur A. Levine and VP of Scholastic reminds us, the true magic has been in the reading:
"What the numbers leave out is the singular
...
Read the rest of this post
Scholastic, the US publishers of the Harry Potter novels, will be releasing a new box set of the series this summer. This new collection, which you can see here in our galleries, is available for pre-order via Barnes and Noble, as well as Walmart. Included in the collection are the set of US paperback editions of books one through seven, with the box to feature the Deluxe cover from Harry Pott...
Read the rest of this post
While the gnomes in our muggle gardens may not spring to life, the gnomes at The Burrow surely do and are your starting point for our Garden Gnome Christmas Tree Contest. In this latest contest, those small creatures with large heads and hard, bony feet from the Harry Potter series are required as a tree topper for the Weasley family Christmas Tree. To take part in this contest, please design...
Read the rest of this post
As reported previously, an exhibition of works by artist Mary GrandPre has now opened at the Cedar Rapids Museum of Art in Iowa, and contains highlights of her work done for the US editions of the Harry Potter book series. Today, thanks to TLC staffer Jeff, we can now show you a sample of the many pieces of art in this display, including a first look at an alternative cover for Harry Potter and...
Read the rest of this post
Several articles out today, detailing books that are frequently stolen from libraries in Scotland. The Edinburgh Evening News reports that topping the list are books from the Harry Potter series. "New figures reveal JK Rowling's works are not only the country's top sellers, but also top for being thieved. Children's author Jacqueline Wilson's books and DVLA driving theory books are second and t...
Read the rest of this post
I think the scene on the front of the Potter cover is after Fred, George and Ron rescue Harry from Privit Drive. And now I need the book.
Yep, that’s the Burrow down there. The bigger problem is that it’s a Ford Anglia and Harry’s in the driver’s seat.
Maybe he’s in the backseat?
Oh, you’re completely correct. That’s the Burrow and not Hogwarts. Looking even closer, I think Harry’s in the backseat (it’s an oddly placed shot). Can’t speak to the Ford Anglia though.
A MOVIE of THE LONELY DOLL??? Are they going to reenact the spanking scene? https://booksatmiddlemayfarm.files.wordpress.com/2013/08/020.jpg
Or how about the one where she’s tied to a tree? https://s-media-cache-ak0.pinimg.com/236x/bd/40/90/bd40903c7bb7dc8742df7e6925c1019a.jpg
Looking forward to any movie of The Secret Life of the Lonely Doll. I read the book, and what I remember most was that she would make all her dates “meet” the Lonely Doll before taking her out, and that if I remember she had an odd relationship with her brother as well as her mother. Beverly Cleary she was not!
Oh it’s a movie about the AUTHOR. Now I get it!
Yeah, but it’s not any less disturbing, I suspect.
When I worked at The Children’s Center at 42nd Street in the main branch of NYPL we had a killer set of old autograph books. Over the decades the children’s librarians would have authors and illustrators sign the books when they attended events at the library. I was paging through one of them one day, not paying much attention, when the tiny signature of “Dare Wright” struck me. To this day I still cannot figure out why she was at NYPL. I doubt very much the library carried her books when she was alive. Utterly baffling but it was like an electric shock to hold a book she’d once held and signed.
Those Lonely Doll books scared the bejesus out of me when I was a kid. Maybe I had watched the Talking Tina episode of Twilight Zone too many times… but maybe not.
Maybe you didn’t watch the Talking Tina episode enough times!
I wish Dare Wright was alive to reap the benefits of her works. She died alone and in poverty –something to think about when book artists are left to swing in the wind without a safety net or any union and our industry leaders tell us to spouse up with someone with insurance — wth?