Newton: If you are publisher that is what you live for - to change the world by getting people to read your books. And the Harry Potter books are more popular than ever. years on, and people still remember the exact moment they entered the wizarding world. Here’s to a very special silver anniversary – and onwards to the next! Rupert Grint, Daniel Radcliffe and Emma Watson in 'Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone', which was released in 2001. Photo: Warner Bros As you may have gathered, Taylor isn’t exactly a “fan” of Harry Potter. He thought the books were excellent, of course, but the whole experience was somewhat scarring.

However, Grint nearly found himself out of a job when Rowling almost killed him off part-way through the franchise. She later explained how she considered a grisly end for the teen wizard out of sheer spite when she was in a dark place personally. There was no written brief, and no correspondence with the book’s author, JK Rowling – just a conversation with Cunningham, who had taken a chance on Harry Potter after 12 other publishers turned it down. His instructions were simple: he wanted the cover to show Harry boarding the Hogwarts Express. Eccleshare: Children who love to read used to be thought of as bookworms, a bit isolated, but that all changed. Everybody was reading the same book, talking about it became a big thing, and parents were talking to their children about it because they had read it too. Coinciding with the publication of Philip Pullman’s His Dark Materials series, the success of Harry Potter gave children’s books both intellectual respectability and incredible earning power. Also taking place on February 3 is the launch of Bloomsbury’s anniversary campaign with the National Literary Trust: Miles of Magic: The Harry Potter Book Relay and the Harry Potter Reading Challenge. The teen actors were guided by a seasoned group of older British actors, though not all of them played parents and teachers. Shirley Henderson, who played Moaning Myrtle, 14, was 36 years old when she took on the role.World Book Day also turns 25 in 2022, and it is partnering with Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone for a “double celebration” on World Book Day (March 3). More will be revealed about this intriguing event in the new year. Plus, there is “more to come in [a]utumn 2022, with more magical Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone activity to be announced.” It's time to PASS THE MAGIC ON for the 25th anniversary of Harry Potter's first adventure – with brand new children's editions of the classic and internationally bestselling series It’s how it feels to me. That old-fashioned steam train. Those yellow stars in the smoke. The look of wonder on Harry’s face. Maybe it’s because this is the first Harry Potter I ever saw, but to me the cover is full of magic. Cunningham had warned Rowling, too, that she would “never make any money from the book”, but its popularity soon exploded. When “the mania”, as Taylor puts it, took off, he was still working at the bookshop. And whenever a customer bought a copy of Harry Potter, his colleagues would point him out and tell them that he did the cover. Most of the time they didn’t believe it. “You could see them thinking, ‘Why is the person associated with this huge thing working behind the till?’” he says.

In the video, we meet fans such as Ben, who learnt to ‘accept yourself, love yourself’ from the books. Charlotte talks about her dyslexia growing up but says that Harry Potter helped her get through it. “That book opened up a relationship for me with literature. I will forever be grateful for the accessibility the Harry Potter books offered me,” she says. Newton: The next day I chaired the editorial meeting and everyone was humming with excitement. We only had a tiny children’s team. Four people. They all sat on beanbags in one room on the fifth floor. Barry asked for authorisation to buy the rights and I said something like: “Alice absolutely loved it – approved!” Everybody else felt the same way. So he offered for UK and Commonwealth rights. He didn’t offer for US rights because in those days we didn’t have a US company. I learned that lesson – one year later, I started Bloomsbury USA. After its first publication in 1997, the illustration of Harry Potter with his lightning bolt scar, standing next to the Hogwarts Express on Platform Nine and Three-Quarters, would go on to become one of the most iconic book covers of the twentieth century, offering a tantalising first glimpse of J.K. Rowling’s endlessly spellbinding wizarding world.On June 26, 1997, the world changed with the release of Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone.After 25 years of magic, we are celebrating the book’s silver anniversary.Later to be titled Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone in the United States, Philosopher’s Stone introduced readers to a world of magic, friendship, and love. From his pen, a boy with scruffy hair, a cheeky smirk and a lightning bolt scar is emerging. “I don’t want to end my days only being known as someone who did the cover art for Harry Potter.”