Harry Potter Books

Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone

by J.K. Rowling & Levi Pinfold (illustrator)

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The Tales of Beedle the Bard

J.K. Rowling & Chris Riddell (illustrator)

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Harry Potter: A History of Magic

by British Library

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Fantastic Beasts: The Wonder of Nature

by Natural History Museum

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Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets

J.K. Rowling & MinaLima (illustrators)

In print, for older children who know to be careful with the interactive elements, for collectors, or for anyone who gets joy from an exquisitely produced book, the MinaLima editions are truly special.

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Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone

J.K. Rowling & MinaLima (illustrators)

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Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets

by J.K. Rowling

Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets is the second book in the Harry Potter series, first published in 1998. The format follows that of the first book, the events taking place in Harry's second year at boarding school. It's a nice, neat storyline, full of suspense and with little jokes along the way for the adult reading the book. For example, we are introduced to a new teacher: a publicity-obsessed narcissist by the name of Gilderoy Lockhart, who has written an autobiography with the inspired title, 'Magical Me.'

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Harry Potter and the Order of Phoenix

by J.K. Rowling

Having kept to a schedule of one book a year for the first four books in the series, Harry Potter and the Order of Phoenix took JK Rowling a little longer to get out, with the book finally appearing in 2003. At nearly 900 pages, it would end up being the longest book in the series, following the lives of the three friends, Harry, Hermione and Ron, as they experience their 5th year at Hogwarts.

Despite the centrality to the plot of magic/wizards and the battle between good and evil, the deeper appeal of the book is that it's a boarding school novel: about wonderful teachers you love and horrible ones who treat you unfairly; about the ups and downs of relationships with friends and with kids who don't seem to like you—or those who you don't yet know how they feel about you. Age 15/16 is also the year kids in the UK have to deal with the stress of sitting important exams: GCSEs or 'General Certificate of Secondary Education,' known as O or Ordinary Levels in JK Rowling's day. It's no surprise that teenage wizards aren't off the hook and have to sit stressful OWLs or 'Ordinary Wizarding Level' exams in the summer term at Hogwarts.

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Harry Potter: the Complete Series

by J.K. Rowling

It’s quite fun to acquire the books in the Harry Potter series one by one, but if you want to get them all in one go, there’s a variety of boxsets to choose from, including fancy gift sets and versions that are specifically for adults. If you’d like to listen to the Harry Potter books as a set of audiobooks, they are all read by British actor Stephen Fry, but there does not seem to be an option to buy them as a complete set.

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