Harry and me go way back, I am talking year 7 English class, where once feeling rather scared and nervous having started a new school, I suddenly found myself discovering the wonder of the wizarding world and a whole heap of magic which would somehow keep me hooked for the rest of my childhood and into my twenties.
Over the years I have read the whole series more times than I can remember, therefore when I heard that an illustrated edition of Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone was being released I was instantly incredibly excited. I knew that it would be something which I would want to purchase as I adore artwork, which when combined with one of my favourite things, that being Harry Potter I just knew that it would be a wonderful collector’s item, let alone a beautiful book to put on my bookshelf.
J K Rowling has created a world full of magic, friendship, good vs evil and laughter which will live with me personally for the rest of my life. I believe it must have been so exciting and such a great honour to be able to illustrate this book; a book which means so much to so many people. Jim Kay is the illustrator behind these utterly beautiful images which fill the book throughout; they truly are magical in their own sense and for me do the book justice.
Of course we all have our own ideas of how we imagine Hogwarts, Fluffy, Diagon Alley and of course not forgetting our big friendly giant Hagrid, yet I truly believe Jim Kay has captured the magic of Harry Potter within his illustrations. This book would make for a perfect gift for someone new to Harry Potter, however for me I think it would make a particularly extra special gift for those who have grown up rooting for Harry against all the odds that faced him, for those that queued in the cold waiting to get their hands on the latest release in the series and for those that wished that just maybe, just maybe they would get a letter through their door delivered by owl inviting them to Hogwarts.
Looking through this book instantly made me feel like I was discovering Harry Potter for the first time; it truly is beautiful.