SPECIAL NOTE: For U.S. customers purchasing the illustrated edition of Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone, you will notice the text has NOT been converted to the "Americanized" version of the original U.S. releases (with the exception of changing all "Philosopher's Stone" mentions to "Sorcerer's Stone"). So far, I have noticed the following: (EU/US) dialling / dialing; Shan't! / Won't!; sherbet lemon / lemon drop; motorbike / motorcycle; and dustbin / trashcan. For many purists of the series who never liked the idea of modifying the original text for an American audience, this is a good thing. Good or bad is naturally for each reader to decide--just know, if you plan to read the books while listening to Jim Dale's audiobooks, you'll notice a few superficial differences.

The quality of this new illustrated edition is phenomenal. I've been excited about the release of this book since it was announced, but I never expected the book as a whole to be so well crafted.

A couple of things to note:
1. Underneath the book jacket, the novel is bound in a sturdy red hardback with gold lettering on the spine.
2. The paper is thick with an eggshell glossy finish.
3. All chapter intros are illustrated.
4. Some images take up full pages or multiple pages. Most illustrations share the page with text.
5. Every inch of the book is illustrated or decorated in some fashion. There are NO white pages in the book. Even the pages without large illustrations have the paper printed and marked with ink blots or paper "stains".

I would highly recommend this for anyone looking to read the series (again, or for the first time), especially if you plan to read this with someone younger. If this book is a demonstration of what is to come with the illustrated editions for the rest of the series, we're all in for six more impeccable treats.

The book itself and illustrations are absolutely, incredibly extraordinary. In that way, this is 100% a 10-STAR book and is absolutely to die for for Harry Potter fans. I was ravenous to get my hands on my copy as soon as it was delivered this morning, but was quickly disappointed.

First, Amazon's packaging was utterly and despicably inadequate. (See Photo) My book was shipped in a box, with *no packing material* of any kind. At first glance, it seemed OK. But when I took a close look at my dust jacket, I was extremely upset to find that the gold foil lettering for "Harry Potter" had been rubbed away and destroyed completely in some places leaving ugly, black matte in its place-- pock marking the otherwise handsome gold lettering. Also, the matte-finish of the dust jacket had been rubbed so badly due to the bad packaging that it left scars and shiny markings where the matte finish was worn off. For an obvious gift/collectors item, this is absolutely unacceptable. I called Amazon and they didn't seem to "get" what my fuss was all about and just offered to ship a replacement which, undoubtedly, will be shipped in exactly the same way.

Second, after I got over my initial outrage over the shipping/packaging. I sat down to enjoy the actual book itself, which as I said is absolutely extraordinary! I was extremely cautious handling the book and binding, being unsure how tolerant the binding is of weight. I carefully opened both the right and left sides of the binding and supported the weight of the opened cover using a small pillow. By the time I reached the back 3/4th of the book (on Professor McGonagall's full page illustration) the binding separated from the spine the very first time I turned the page. In other words, the binding fell apart during my very first pass through the book. (See Photo). Another thing that really drove me crazy was the way that the stitched in book mark was carelessly folded into the book. It left dents all over my pages (See Photo), which of course had to be on a full page illustration of Hagrid!

Needless to say I'm in awe how Bloomsbury has managed to put together such an incredible project, with JK Rowling's remarkable literature and Jim Kay's otherworldly illustrations-- and allowed it to be put together in a low quality binding! I noticed that all of the previous Harry Potter books were printed and bound in USA (some in Mexico) but this book was printed and bound in China. I would like to hope that they would quality check a thing like this, but perhaps not. Either way, I am extremely disappointed in the quality/binding of my book. I would be interested to know if others are seeing the same thing. And please, Amazon, pack these books in bubble wrap and packing material! Not all alone in a box...

Update (October 9th): I have finally received my new book and it was in much, much better condition. The cover and spine were tight, intact and falling apart from the binding like my original copy. Addtl photos to follow...

The numerous illustrations are a wonderful addition to a brilliant book and will bring the story to life for young readers just growing into the series. Be aware, however, that books in this new illustrated series are quite substantial in size and weight, with pages so wide that column format is used for the text. I imagine that later books in the series will rival encyclopedias. Prepare your bookshelf accordingly.

My husband tried to surprise me with this order, but we share the amazon account ;)
I WAS surprised though, because I didn’t realize it would be textbook size with all these amazing scenes drawn out. They’re AH-MAY-ZING drawings!! If you love Harry Potter, you will love these books. For some reason, hubs couldn’t find the first and second of the series (I did ;p) so he bought the third first, but we know the stories by heart so it doesn’t matter to me. I hope they put out all of them! It almost feels like how I felt waiting for the actual series to come out.

I LOVE THE STORY. Illustrations are great. PROBLEM is that the book came missing pages 153-168 because 137-152 were printed twice. It took me a week to realize this. You will want to check your books. I'm sure Amazon will take care of me but thank goodness I wasn't gifting this.

These illustrated editions of Harry Potter were done right! All of the original text is there and the artwork is beautiful. Every page has something, whether it's an illustration that takes up a full double page spread, a little drawing in the corner, a thematic border, or just a visually textured background. It may sound chaotic, like the visuals could be too much and break up the flow of reading but it is not; it enhances the story as you turn the pages and delight in the new visuals that each page brings. I imagine these would be a great way to bring children into the story, but they're so nice you may want to protect and collect these beauties. I can't wait for them to release the others.